The concept of “British jobs for British workers” is not a post-Brexit phenomenon. Indeed, the phrase was uttered by a man with internationalist and social democratic bona fides as unimpeachable as Gordon Brown all the way back in 2007. But in an era of high levels of net migration, which governments of all stripes say they want to cut, it has taken on greater salience.
This week, Yvette Cooper wrote to the Migration Advisory Committee, the independent body that advises the Government on migration issues. In her letter, the Home Secretary asked for a string of reviews into foreign workers coming to the UK, noting that the current “high levels of international recruitment reflect weaknesses in the labour market including persistent skills shortages in the UK.”
