Brexiteer Next boss says UK needs more foreign workers to help with labour shortage

Lord Simon Wolfson - who campained to Leave - said the current policy is ‘crippling growth’

The government needs to allow more foreign workers into the UK to solve labour shortages, the Brexiteer boss of Next has urged.

Lord Simon Wolfson, who was a prominent advocate of Brexit, said the UK's current immigration policy was holding back economic growth.

He said firms should pay a tax to employ foreign workers, to encourage them to recruit from the UK first.

The retail boss told the BBC: “We have got people queuing up to come to this country to pick crops that are rotting in fields, to work in warehouses that otherwise wouldn’t be operable, and we’re not letting them in.

“And we have to take a different approach to economically productive migration.”

Lord Wolfson, who was a vocal supporter of Brexit, said the country should now open up its borders to more workers.

He added: “I think in respect of immigration, it’s definitely not the Brexit that I wanted, or indeed, many of the people who voted Brexit, but more importantly, the vast majority of the country.

Lord Simon Wolfson, boss of retail giant Next (Michael Crockett/Next PLC/PA) (PA Media)

“Yes, control it, where it’s damaging to society, but let people in who can who can contribute.”

Back in 2016, Lord Wolfson had a much more positive outlook, declaring that: “On balance, I think we will be better off out”, and that without radical change the UK was “heading for a long era of low growth”.

Lord Wolfson is the boss of Next, which has just bought Made.com (PA Archive)

In a comment piece in The Times, Lord Wolfson said: “A nation that wants to stand still is a nation in decline.

“If we want our companies to start investing again, we must put aside such fears and place our trust in the collective intelligence and endeavour of Britain’s 30 million-strong workforce. Over the next four months, people will debate the economic pros and cons of Brexit. On balance, I think we will be better off out.”