Former environment secretary says fruit-pickers are ‘skilled workers’

The former environment secretary George Eustice has called on the UK government to “completely reappraise” its policy on skilled labour and immigration.

Making the comments on the BBC, Eustice said that he “completely” disagreed with current home secretary Suella Braverman that the UK could train its own fruit-pickers to cut immigration, and to continue to describe fruit-pickers as “low-skilled” workers. She also said there was “no good reason”, that the country couldn’t train its own fruit-pickers.

The classification of skill is important as only those deemed “skilled” are currently able to apply for a UK visa to work, according to an approved government list of occupations.

Eustice, who is previously a fruit farmer, said that instead of the skilled worker scheme, the government should implement a long-term seasonal workers scheme.

The government currently prioritises what it defines as “skilled workers” for migration to the UK. It currently defines a number of farming-related roles as skilled, but not fruit-picking.

Eustice said that the immigration policy needed to reflect the needs of the UK economy rather than being skills-based, but also said that “dextrous, human skills” required from fruit picking should be recognised.