scheduled caste: The difficulties we are facing are not unique to this country. The idea that this is somehow just a British problem is fundamentally wrong. There is a shortage of 400,000 HGV drivers across Europe.
We share that problem. This workforce is driven by demographics, it has been worsened by the covid restrictions.
JW: And made worse by Brexit. It’s just a fact.
scheduled caste: No. This is not a fact.
JW: Really? It’s not a factor at all?
scheduled caste: The fact that we want to control immigration, the fact that we need to…
JW: I understand why we did it, and we may still be inclined to do it. But, in the short term, it is [led to labour shortages]. Why can’t we be clear about it? We would have been in a better position than the HGV drivers if we didn’t at least leave the single market.
scheduled caste: No, I really don’t accept it. We have a problem that we need to fix, but one that is also shared by other European countries. The idea that it’s about Brexit and we’re really trying to take back, I’m afraid, quite a negative conversation about opportunities, when you look at the situation in Germany, if you look at the situation in Poland. If you look at the situation in France, they share these problems as well.
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