- Sputnik International, 1920
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Tory MP Triggers Twitter After Changing His Tune and Calling for Higher Wages for Truckers

© AFP 2023 / ADRIAN DENNISTraffic including freight lorries drive under police escort to manage the traffic on the M20 motorway which leads to the Port of Dover at Mersham in Kent, south east England on December 21, 2020, as a string of countries banned travel including accompanied freight arriving from the UK, due to the rapid spread of a more-infectious new coronavirus strain. - Britain's critical south coast port at Dover said on Sunday it was closing to all accompanied freight and passengers due to the French border restrictions "until further notice".
Traffic including freight lorries drive under police escort to manage the traffic on the M20 motorway which leads to the Port of Dover at Mersham in Kent, south east England on December 21, 2020, as a string of countries banned travel including accompanied freight arriving from the UK, due to the rapid spread of a more-infectious new coronavirus strain. - Britain's critical south coast port at Dover said on Sunday it was closing to all accompanied freight and passengers due to the French border restrictions until further notice.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.08.2021
Subscribe
John Redwood has been a Conservative MP since 1987 and served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government. He was an early supporter of Brexit and was a member of the pressure group Leave Means Leave.
Hardcore Thatcherite MP John Redwood shocked social media on Thursday, 26 August, when he suddenly backed the Unite trade union’s calls for employers to raise wages in order to recruit more lorry drivers.
A shortage of truckers in Britain has hit factories, supermarkets and fast food restaurants with chains like McDonald’s, Nando’s, KFC and Waitrose running out of certain items because of problems with deliveries.
​Unite estimates there is a shortage of around 75,000 drivers in Britain and says only higher wages will attract young people to an industry which involves hard work, long hours and a great deal of time spent away from family and friends.
Redwood, 70, has been an opponent of trade unions and collective bargaining for decades but his tweet suggested he realised the market was simply not working when it came to the haulage industry and the only answer was better pay.
​The MP’s comments saw him trending on Twitter, with many Labour supporters claiming he was a hypocrite after years of opposing pay rises for train drivers, social workers and other workers.
Supermarket chains Tesco and Iceland have warned that if nothing is done there could be serious shortages of key foods in the run up to Christmas.
​Brexit and the pandemic have given the industry a double whammy as many EU nationals chose to return to their home countries or moved to France, Ireland or Germany.
He called for lorry drivers who were EU citizens to be given short-term visas in order for them to be able to work for UK-based haulage firms.
Iceland chief executive Richard Walker, who said he thought Britain needed 100,000 more truck drivers, told the BBC: "The reason for sounding the alarm now is that we've already had one Christmas cancelled at the last minute.”
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала