Train fruit pickers and lorry drivers to cut migration, says Suella Braverman - BBC

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By Brian Wheeler & Kate Whannel

BBC Politics

There is "no good reason" the UK cannot train its own lorry drivers and fruit pickers to bring immigration down, Suella Braverman has said.

Addressing a conference in London, the home secretary argued it was "not racist" to want to control borders.

She has previously said her "ultimate aspiration" is to reduce net migration - the difference between those entering and leaving the UK - to below 100,000.

It is expected to hit a record 700,000 this year.

Ms Braverman's speech has been seen by some as a warning shot to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to focus more on cutting immigration, although Downing Street says her words were cleared with them.

Some senior Conservatives believe more immigration is needed in the short-term to boost economic growth.

Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston told Times Radio "every now and again we also need more people to come into the country," but the "key thing" was to have control.

"In the long term, we need immigration to come down because that's what has been causing some challenges in local areas for a long period of time," he added.

The horticulture industry has suffered labour shortages since the UK left the EU, which was made worse by the pandemic.

A campaign to recruit more UK-based workers for seasonal farm roles was scrapped in 2021 after a relatively small number of people signed up to it.

The opening minutes of Ms Braverman's speech to the conference organised by a US-based right-wing group were interrupted by heckles from two Extinction Rebellion protestors.

The environmental group said it was seeking to disrupt "the increasingly dangerous rhetoric from senior political figures" and likened Ms Braverman's policies to "fascist ideology".

'Anyone else?' said the home secretary after the two protestors had been removed adding: "It is audition day for the shadow cabinet."

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Ms Braverman's wide-ranging speech began with reflections on how her background shaped her values, including "my belief in the truth and power of conservative ideas".

She defended conservative ideology as one that prizes "experience, judgement and wisdom" before moving on to the subject of immigration.

Ms Braverman told the audience the UK must not "forget how to do things for ourselves".

"There is no good reason why we can't train up enough HGV drivers, butchers or fruit pickers."

However, visa rules have been relaxed or adjusted in some sectors in recent years to tackle worker shortages.

The government has also increased this year's temporary visas for seasonal agricultural workers by 15,000. These visas are not included in the official net migration figure.

'Let them pick fruit'

The home secretary told the National Conservatism conference Brexit enables a high-skilled, high wage economy to be built "that is less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour".

The net migration figure for 2022, due to be released next week, is estimated to be at least 700,000 - according to analysis by the centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies.

This would be a record high, driven in part by the Ukraine resettlement scheme, but mostly by an increase in people coming to the UK to work and study from outside the EU.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer launched an attack on Ms Braverman's speech at a meeting of Labour MPs and peers.

"When Suella Braverman says that British workers have forgotten how to do things for themselves it's nothing new. It's how they respond to everything. Duck responsibility. Blame everyone else," he said. "She's told us their vision of the future of work in this country: 'Let them pick fruit'."Well, our party will never have such low ambitions for working people."

He branded the National Conservatism conference a "mad hatter's tea party", attended by politicians with "a national dislike of this country and its people, from north to south".

The Conservatives ditched a longstanding pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands in their 2019 election manifesto. But Ms Braverman told the Tory party conference last October the target remained her "ultimate aspiration" in the long term.

Are we already training UK workers?

There are already some schemes to train UK workers in doing the jobs that the home secretary was referring to.

A 16-week HGV Skills Bootcamp aims to train 11,000 people to become HGV drivers in England.

There are about 41,000 vacancies in the transport and storage sector, although not all of those are HGV drivers.

The British Meat Processors Association says there is currently a shortfall of about 10% in staff.

The level of training required depends on the role, with some apprenticeships and food safety training available for butcher roles. More extensive training is needed for roles such as vets in abattoirs.

Fruit pickers tend to get their training on the job - there are no current schemes to train UK workers in fruit picking.

In August 2021, a report by accountants Grant Thornton estimated there were 500,000 vacancies in the food and farming sector - including fruit pickers.

In her speech, Ms Braverman also argued it was "not racist" to want to control Britain's borders and she is not embarrassed to say she loves Britain.

"It's not xenophobic to say that mass and rapid migration is unsustainable in terms of housing supply, service and community relations."

Senior ministers, Tory MPs and right-wing commentators will gather at the three-day event in London, including Michael Gove, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost.

Ms Braverman also said: "I reject the left's argument that it is hypocritical for someone from an ethnic minority to know these facts; to speak these truths."

Reports that Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had been involved in "watering down" proposals to restrict dependents of students have been rejected by a source at the Department of Education.

The source said Ms Keegan had vocally supported the "benefits of international students" and suggested others in government had done the same.

The Times has also reported that Ms Keegan blocked plans to reduce the time foreign students can stay in the UK after finishing their course.