SCOTTISH Tory MPs have added their political weight to the growing pressure on the UK Government to make a “concession” and waive immigration rules so that fishermen outwith Europe can work on inshore vessels around Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, the SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil complained that after a meeting at the Home Office, ministers seemed “impervious to any concern” as they had once again failed to offer a desperately needed lifeline to the West Coast fishing industry over the ongoing crew shortage crisis despite repeated pleas for urgent action.
The MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar called on Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, who comes from a Scottish fishing family, to personally intervene.
During Transport Questions in the Commons on Thursday, Scottish Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael also called on the Government to take action to "get more crew in from non-EEA countries".
The Scottish Conservatives are also arguing strongly that the Scottish fleet is struggling to recruit the labour it needs to satisfy demand on inshore vessels yet is not able to look beyond the EEA due to the current visa rules.
The jobs are often viewed as low-skilled but the reality is, say the MPs, that these are fishermen who are experienced and seasoned professionals.
In a letter to Caroline Noakes, the UK Immigration Minister, 12 Scottish Tory MPs insist they want a long-term solution to be reached that would allow the fishing industry to access the labour it needs while not taking employment opportunities away from the local workforce or increasing the possibility of foreign nationals being exploited for their work.
In the letter, they point out how it could, post Brexit, take up to 15 years before the UK fishing industry will be in a position to rely solely on domestic labour.
Tory MP Douglas Ross, who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Committee explained: “Fishing is a vital industry for Scotland. We must ensure that it has access to the workforce it requires to continue to thrive.
“At the moment, there are shortages in labour for inshore vessels which need to be urgently addressed. It is clear there are people ready and willing to come to Scotland and the UK to work in the industry so we have to clear the hurdles which are currently preventing them from doing so.”
He said previously concessions were made by the Home Office to allow non-EEA nationals to work on inshore vessels around the UK and that Scottish Conservatives want them to be made again.
“By working constructively with the Minster on this issue I hope we will be able to arrive at a solution to this challenge and allow the fishing industry to recruit labour from around the world,” added the MP for Moray.
Mr MacNeil, his party’s fisheries spokesman, met Ms Noakes with other MPs earlier this week but said he left the meeting dismayed.
“Having met our sixth Immigration Minister in eight years, it is like talking to a brick wall at the Home Office,” declared the SNP MP.
“We’re back to making the case which we made to five previous ministers. This is despite having Michael Gove, the Environment Cabinet Secretary on side. I will be contacting him again to ask for his intervention in this matter. It appears that Sajid Javid’s Home Office is not changing in any way, shape or form,” added Mr MacNeil.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel