Brexit secretary: ‘UK won’t shut door on EU workers’

Brexit secretary David Davis has claimed the UK will not “shut the door” on EU workers following the result of last year’s referendum.

The comments came during a visit to Tallinn, Estonia, where Davis added it would take “years and years” for British workers to fill jobs that are currently undertaken by EU workers. He highlighted the hospitality industry, as well as hotels and restaurants, as industries that will “take time”.

Davis said: “In the hospitality sector, hotels and restaurants, in the social-care sector, working in agriculture, it will take time. It will be years and years before we get British citizens to do those jobs.

“Don’t expect just because we’re changing who makes the decision on the policy, the door will suddenly shut – it won’t.”

In a letter to Davis, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) said it was “reassured” by Davis’ comments and that it would welcome the opportunity to help shape the UK’s new immigration law.

However, the letter acknowledged that restaurants, hotels and pubs needed to be less reliant on EU workers to survive. The association estimates some 700,000 EU citizens currently work in the hospitality industry.

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the BHA, said: “We are determined to rely less on EU service workers over the coming years but it will take time, as Davis has recognised. This is why we have already urged the government to consider a phased approach.

“We at the BHA will be focusing our efforts on promoting hospitality as a rewarding and exciting career to UK workers.”