Lord Bilimoria
Main Page: Lord Bilimoria (Crossbench - Life peer)
Lord Bilimoria (CB)
My Lords, I am proud to chair the Manufacturing Commission of which Jack Dromey was vice-chair, and I pay tribute to him. He was outstanding. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, for initiating this debate, and I declare my interests right up front as the manufacturer of Cobra Beer, manufactured using the finest British malted barley, and Malabar Blond IPA—India pale ale—produced using the finest British hops.
I am so proud of our British farming industry, and I pay tribute to the NFU, which is a member of the CBI, of which I am president. In fact, the NFU identified in a report last year that there is an estimated workforce shortage of 500,000 across the food and farming sector, including hospitality and haulage. In June last year, the CBI and I pointed out—including on the Floor of this House—labour shortages, for example among lorry drivers and butchers. The Government did not listen. By October last year, healthy pigs had to be culled at farms rather than being sent to slaughter. This was the first time that pigs were mass culled since the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak. The Government eventually issued temporary visas for 800 pork butchers, which were available until the end of 2021. Will the Government extend this? The Government also eventually announced temporary visas for 5,500 poultry workers and 4,700 HGV drivers. The HGV driver visas expire on 28 February, and the poultry worker visas expired on 31 December. Will the Government extend these?
Why do the Government not reform the Migration Advisory Committee, including academics, economists and businesspeople, to give it the independence of the Low Pay Commission, which sets the minimum wage that the Government have to follow, or the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates that the Bank of England has to follow? This reformed MAC could, on a regular basis—quarter by quarter—activate the shortage occupation list sector by sector, prescribing the number of jobs and the length of the visas. This would give our economy, including our farming, food and drink sector, the workforce that it needs, instead of crippling it with self-inflicted labour shortages and shooting ourselves and our economy in the foot.