Truss 'Seeks to Sideline Home Secretary to Attract Migrants, Plug Labor Shortages'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is trying to sideline the country's Home Secretary Suella Braverman to ease migration rules to tackle acute labor shortages, The Independent reported.

In late September, The Sunday Times reported that the UK government might launch an in-depth review of the UK's visa system to enable more foreign workers into the country and address labor shortages. However, the move was met with a spate of criticism from pro-Brexit cabinet members, including Braverman, State Secretary for international trade Kemi Badenoch and State Secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy Jacob Rees-Mogg.

This move exposes an internal rift in the government over the measures necessary to stimulate the national economy, the newspaper said.

While Truss seeks to relax current immigration regulations in a bid to foster economic growth and secure her premiership, she is facing "open defiance" from Braverman.

According to two sources from the UK's business circles, those pushing for more foreign laborers were advised to lobby their cause in other departments and ignore the Home Office. In particular, they were told to build the case for simplified migrant rules to Rees-Mogg or former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, who is now serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

"We were told not to approach the Home Office but to state our case to Rees-Mogg. It's extraordinary. It seems that Downing Street is already trying to bypass a home secretary who was appointed only a month ago," a senior business figure told The Independent.

Braverman, who previously served as the Attorney General of England and Wales, became the UK's new Home Secretary on September 6.