Former Chancellor Philip Hammond says the current Tory government’s hardline border policy is a barrier to growth and says immigration needs to be increased to fill staff shortages.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, Mr Hammond suggested party ideology is preventing ministers from doing what’s needed to treat the UK’s economic ills.
The ex-Cabinet minister said the problem his party has is that many of the things economists are recommending to fix the UK’s growth problem, including increasing levels of immigration are “deeply troubling the Tory Party and its beliefs and values”.
He said dealing with the UK’s labour shortage means opening up our migration and planning systems, and also stressed we need “a closer relationship with the EU, particularly for services, and that will be deeply problematic for many of my colleagues”.
Mr Hammond, the government’s chief financial minister from 2016 to 2019, acknowledged economic growth wasn’t a priority for some people, but said the government has to clearly articulate its importance.
“There is a problem that there are people in this country, and I know this because I used to represent some of them in my constituency, who don’t understand why we needed growth,” he said.null
“They were perfectly comfortable. They liked their town as it is, they like the environment they live in they didn’t see the need for change.
“We have to make a compelling case for economic growth, not least to support the many, many millions of people for whom life isn’t quite so good at the moment, who do need a raise in their standards of living.”
Asked by Andrew if the immigration policy being promulgated by Home Secretary Suella Braverman at the moment was a barrier to growth, Mr Hammond replied: “Yes, I think it is, undoubtedly.”
By Chris Samuel@csamueljourno
