Today the government has relaxed visa requirements for overseas builders, carpenters and people working in the fishing industry amid widespread labour shortages prompting calls for a system overhaul.

Responding to a new CBI survey which suggests that around three quarters of business have been impacted by labour shortages, Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said,

Food industry leaders have blasted the government’s complacency and intransigence following post-Brexit changes to immigration which is preventing them doing what’s needed to ensure food security and tackle rising costs.

Industry experts have urged the UK government to pursue a more holistic approach to investment in manufacturing, including a nationally sustained programme and long-term strategy, to prevent the sector from becoming a “brain drain” for talent.

Research experts and charities working with people with serious and often terminal illnesses have said that delays to research and clinical trials from Brexit could mean the difference between ‘life or death’ for patients.

Members of the cross-party, cross-industry UK Trade and Commission have called on the government to act quickly to address ongoing crises in the UK labour market and supply chain before they are made significantly worse by current global energy shortages.

The acute supply issues plaguing Britain are set to continue according to industry experts who today warned of a “very challenging” Christmas among longer term consequences as the supply chain faces a “perfect storm” of problems.