Nigel Farage’s recent comments on migration and the construction sector have sparked significant backlash from industry leaders.
- Farage claimed that the UK does not need construction workers from abroad, and labelled manual labour as unskilled.
- Industry leaders argue that these claims oversimplify complex issues and undermine the sector’s needs.
- The construction sector faces a shortage of more than 250,000 workers by 2028, according to the CITB.
- Leaders stress the necessity of foreign skilled workers to support industry demands amid training infrastructure challenges.
Nigel Farage, recently appointed as the leader of Reform UK, has made contentious claims regarding the need for construction workers from abroad in the UK. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Farage argued that the sector does not require foreign labour, denouncing manual work as unskilled and linking it to the country’s growing population.
These statements have been met with strong criticism from construction industry leaders who decry the oversimplification of the sector’s needs. Rico Wojtulewicz, head of policy and market insight at the National Federation of Builders, dismissed Farage’s comments as incorrect. He emphasised that the majority of construction workers are British, and the sector still requires foreign skilled labour to fill the gaps left by domestic shortages.
The construction industry is grappling with a significant challenge: recruiting enough skilled workers to meet rising demand. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has highlighted the need for over 250,000 additional workers by 2028 to sustain growth. This need underscores the importance of foreign skilled workers, which current domestic training programmes cannot meet alone.
Wojtulewicz further explained the timeline needed to train new apprentices, estimating two to three years for initial training and an additional two years to develop proficiency. Despite the sector’s efforts, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), responsible for most apprenticeships, face hurdles that impede achieving requisite training numbers.
Iain McIlwee, chief executive of the Finishes and Interiors Sector, refuted Farage’s dismissal of construction skills. He stated that construction workers play a critical role in economic success, arguing that undermining these skills with dismissive rhetoric detracts from efforts to attract new talent into the field through educational avenues.
Additionally, McIlwee countered claims that wages in the sector have decreased, asserting instead that there have been substantial increases of over 40 per cent since Brexit. Meanwhile, Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, reinforced the notion that few jobs in construction are truly unskilled, highlighting the specialised skill sets workers acquire to perform their tasks.
As the construction industry navigates these challenges, it continues to advocate for a nuanced understanding of its operational dynamics and the pressures it faces. Recent polling suggests that although support for Reform UK is growing, the party remains distant from securing significant parliamentary influence.
The construction sector remains firm in its assertion that skilled foreign workers are integral to meeting the industry’s current and future demands.
