Banffshire & Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson
With thanks to Banffshire & Buchan Coast SNP.
Fish processors in the North East of Scotland would be disproportionately hammered by reckless Tory plans to slap a £1,000 levy on EU workers in the UK following a hard Brexit.
The seafood processing sector employs thousands of EU citizens,
with the workforce largely
concentrated at individual sites in the North East.
Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill suggested that firms could be charged £1,000 each year for every EU worker they employ.
The anti-business plans have been labelled xenophobic by former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt who is one of the EU’s chief Brexit negotiators and even criticised by senior Tory Anna Soubry who blasted the proposals as a “tax on successful businesses”.
Figures reveal that individual businesses could be stung particularly hard by the proposed tax. Buchan’s Macduff Shellfish, for example, has a workforce of around 500 people – with 79 per cent of them non-UK EU citizens. That would mean a £395,000 annual levy imposed by the Tory government on this single business.
Around 3,000 EU citizens work in the seafood processing sector alone – with thousands more in the wider food and drink industry. The misguided Tory attack on foreign workers would mean a multimillion pound bill imposed on businesses in the North East.
Commenting, Banffshire & Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson (pictured) said:
“The Tories are moving further and further to the right at an alarming rate.
“Their plans to tax firms an excess based on the number of European workers they have on the books are discriminatory, deeply disturbing and potentially crippling in terms of business.
“But sadly that comes with the territory of a hard Brexit, characterised by xenophobia and Tory politicians finally peeling back the mask to reveal a dangerous and divisive agenda.
“In my constituency alone, firms could face charges up to half a million pounds just for having the ‘audacity’ to hire workers with the right set of skills who have chosen to make Scotland their home. Many firms would face the very real consequence of cutting jobs or even facing closure.
“It’s incumbent upon Ruth Davidson to distance herself from these comments and to make the case to her bosses at Westminster that Scotland shouldn’t suffer as a result of a Tory hard Brexit led by the loony right-wingers in her own party.
“Before and after the referendum last year she championed Scotland remaining in the single market. It’s time she proved she’s a politician of her word.”
Further Info:
European and External Relations Committee – The EU referendum and its implications for Scotland – Written submission from Macduff Shellfish http://www.parliament.scot/S5_European/General%20Documents/CTEER_Macduff_Shellfish.pdf
– “As well as being an important employer in and around Mintlaw (employing in excess of 350 people in the area, and a further 150 people across our other sites and fishing fleet)”
– “Moreover, 79% of our employees originate from other European Member States. The European labour market is a vital resource to Macduff and our continued success will be dependent upon the future flow of European workers.”
BBC News – Minister hints at £1,000 fee for EU workers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38581873
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