UK May Give More Temporary Visas to Cover Truck Driver Shortage

The first Minister British Boris Johnson It said Saturday it will keep immigration rules under review, and did not rule out issuing more temporary visas in an effort to alleviate a fuel carrier shortage that led to gasoline shortages.

Britain said last week it will grant temporary visas to 5,000 foreign truckers and 5,500 workers in the poultry industry to mitigate an acute labor shortage that disrupted supply at gas stations and caused difficulties in food production.

The UK Road Hauling Association says the country faces a shortage of 100,000 drivers as a result of workers leaving the sector, the pandemic slows driver training and post-Brexit immigration rules prevent the hiring of European truckers.

Speaking to reporters during a hospital visit, Johnson did not rule out the possibility of granting more temporary visas.

“What we currently have is a system that allows us to control immigration and that gives us flexibility. We can open our markets if we need to and of course we will keep everything under review, ”Johnson said.

The government has said that starting Monday, 200 army truckers will help deliver fuel.

“What we don’t want is to go back to a situation where we were basically allowing the trucking industry to sustain itself with a lot of low-wage immigrants,” Johnson said.