John,

This week, neither Rishi Sunak nor Keir Starmer confronted the elephant in the room when addressing a conference of business people: that Brexit has saddled them with crushing red tape and labour shortages.

There are currently 1.2 million vacancies in the UK including more than 100,000 in the NHS.

If they can’t be honest about the problem, how can we trust them to solve it?

Filling these roles with UK workers alone is a fantasy. Worse still, Starmer’s comments about low cost migrant workers have echoes of Vote Leave.

He has been bold in saying that employers need to offer better wages, conditions and training.

He should be equally bold in stating what study after study has confirmed: that immigration is good for our society and can facilitate more growth, higher standards of living, and better public services for everyone.

We know you want a more internationalist government after the next election. The polls currently predict it will be Labour in Number 10. That’s why we are lobbying them to be brave, to be bold, to be honest, and to tell voters why immigration benefits us all, and is a crucial part of a fair and effective economic strategy.

But we need your help - tell us what action you think our leaders should be taking on migration and labour shortages so that we can put pressure on the people making these decisions.


Best wishes,

Naomi Smith
CEO, Best for Britain