Minister insists businesses will cope with Brexit amid staff reduction fears

How will Britain cope with the expected migration reduction of workers due to Brexit?

Boris Johnson covers zombies, boils and bondage in vivid conference speechMr Lewis suggested some industries could change their processes to reduce their workforces while training could help workers already in the UK fill vacancies.

The Government has asked the Migration Advisory Committee to investigate the impact of free movement and how the labour needs of the UK economy after Brexit.

Business groups have repeatedly expressed fears that the end of free movement across Europe will starve them of the staff with the skills they require.

Theresa May has repeatedly promised to reduce net migration to fewer than 100,000 people a year.

Mr Lewis told The Yorkshire Post: “I’m very clear if you look at probably two General Elections as well as the referendum people in a huge range of parts of the country, including my own constituency in East Anglia, that immigration was a really big issue for them.

“We have been very clear as a party we recognised that, that’s why the Prime Minister has said we want to deliver net migration that is at sustainable levels which we think is in the tens of thousands.

“I think we can do that, that’s why it is important we have a transition period to give businesses a period of time to prepare for this.”

Mr Lewis pointed to the construction industry as an example of where changes in working practices could reduce the number of workers needed.

The Minister insisted free movement would end in March 2019 but the Brexit transition period proposed by the Prime Minister would ensure there was no “cliff-edge” for business.

He added: “It is not just about migrating labour coming in, it is also about over the next few years making sure we are upskilling here at home for people to be

able to develop skills to take opportunities for those jobs rather than always having to look overseas.”

Brexit Secretary David Davis told delegates at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester the Government was preparing in case the Brexit talks with Brussels collapse.

He said: “On the negotiating front, we are aiming for a good deal and that is what we expect to achieve.

Time to shape up, May sends out warning to feuding Cabinet members“However, if the outcome of the negotiation falls short of the deal that Britain needs we will be ready for the alternative.

“That is what a responsible Government does. Anything else would be a dereliction of duty.

“So there is a determined exercise under way in Whitehall devoted to contingency arrangements so that we are ready for any outcome.

“Not because it is what we seek, but because it needs to be done.”

Mr Davis, the Haltemprice and Howden MP, criticised “lurid accounts” in the media and “predictions of breakdown and crisis”.

He urged Conservative supporters to “keep your eyes on the prize”.

“Success will not be automatic, we will have to work hard for it,” he said.

European leaders have repeatedly expressed frustration at the UK’s failure to offer clarity on the future of EU nationals, the Irish border and the so-called ‘divorce bill’ and is refusing to open talks on future trade.

Last year’s Brexit vote was a “cry of financial pain” from voters who felt they were not doing well economically, new research has found.

A report from the University of Warwick rejected popular theories the victory for Leave in the 2016 referendum poll was driven by older voters or people from rural areas. Instead, it was “people’s feelings about their ...wallet”.