A Home Office minister has been accused of making false claims to a Commons inquiry, as he sought to blame pig firms for a post-Brexit butcher shortage.
Kevin Foster found himself under fire for rejecting a recommendation to make it easier to bring in EU workers, to plug the shortfall – which, a senior Tory MP told him, is “destroying” British farming.
But, downplaying talk of crisis, the immigration minister instead claimed only one of the UK’s four major pork processors had applied for a licence to sponsor visas for overseas staff.
After the grilling by the Commons environment committee on Tuesday, all four companies protested that they are sponsors – with the information on the Home Office website.
Now Neil Parish, the committee’s Conservative chair, has written to Mr Foster demanding an explanation and alerting George Eustice, the environment secretary, to the situation.
A letter reads: “Your point that only one major pork processor had a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence was a key part of your argument that the pressures on the sector are not as serious as had been described and that the sector was not doing enough to access the support available through the immigration system.
“If it turns out your argument is not supported by the latest information, I’d be grateful if you could revise your remarks and commit to reviewing the support that the Home Office is providing to the sector.”
In a second row, the minister also claimed that workers seeking visas only needed the...
*This content was translated by AI. Professional basketball team Busan KCC has filed a criminal complaint against two officials from Daegu Korea Gas Corporation on charges of defamation. On the 24t...