Re: The fall in the £

It is not that hard to get such workers without them being immigrants (that is reserved for skilled occupations here).

Australia has the same problem with agricultural workers and generally getting workers in Northern Australia so there are holiday visas which give backpackers the chance to extend their visas to 12 months if they undertake such work for 6 months. Once in the country I understand that you can apply to get another visa to extend your stay to 2 years if you fulfil certain conditions. They get proper award wages but there are age restrictions (eg I think you have to be over 18 and under 30 and childless)

Everywhere you go in the outback every roadhouse, tourist resort and pub is staffed by young people with a variety of American and European accents (including pommies).

The other way is the equivalent of our 457 visas which is a type of foreign aid whereby workers, mainly from Pacific Islands, can work for up to a couple of years again in agriculture where farmers cannot get workers (and only in designated jobs).

All these workers get proper award wages. obviously Britain would have to tailor the visas to suit its needs eg you don't have remote locations but it is a system that works fairly well.

Re: The fall in the £

That sounds good Bruce I hope our lot can learn from aus in several ways.

Re: The fall in the £

I am amazed Julie - "don't blame the leavers - we just used our votes????"

Re: The fall in the £

Yes if the referendum had been run sensibly and in a more grown up manner they may have got a different result. I know several people voted just to teach Cameron a lesson and were angry at all the doom mongers talking us down.

Re: The fall in the £

b.i.b. Well - that just tells me that some folks had no idea what they were actually voting for and should not have voted at all - how stupid. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I wonder what they are saying now.

Can I ask why you say the referendum was not run sensibly Julie. IMO it is up to people to investigate and learn, so they can make a calculated vote. To be honest, I believe there were a lot of people who had no idea of the consequences of what they were voting for. Did they really think things would be hunky dory or that it didn't matter to them.

Re: The fall in the £

Because they were just fear mongering and because they had no plan if it went anyway but their way. IMO a prime minister must have plans for both outcomes before asking the question !

Re: The fall in the £

Maybe so, but we can't have an increase in wages (which is what our local talented jobless require to get them motivated) and expect that not to be passed onto tourists. We can't expect tourists to increase if we aren't friendly to visitors and make a fuss when they arrive at the border. We can't have our cake and eat it. The economy is all connected to itself. Change one bit and the rest changes so you end up no better off unless you are in growth. If you devalue the currency then we nosedive right into a deep recession if not worse.

Re: The fall in the £

Yes but Bruce is surely talking about foreign workers. We have that here already but we don't want it - or do we?

Re: The fall in the £

Well on a personal level for some odd reason my family always do really well in recessions I'm not saying bring it on as it hurts too many but it's just an odd anomaly.

Re: The fall in the £

Well if tourists arrive at Gatwick they will be met by unfriendly east europeans who appear to have most of the jobs there .