The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Nov 10, 2022
Ian Hislop's reacts to Brexit vote in resurfaced clip
Indy
A Brexit backer has moaned about Brexit and noone is sympathetic at all.
Next chief executive officer Lord Simon Wolfson told the BBC today the government should let more foreign workers into the UK to ease labour shortages.
He said: "We have got people queuing up to come to this country to pick crops that are rotting in fields, to work in warehouses that otherwise wouldn't be operable, and we're not letting them in.
"And we have to take a different approach to economically productive migration."
He said that the government needed to decide whether the UK was an open free trading nation, or whether post-Brexit it wanted to be "fortress Britain", pulling up the drawbridge to foreign workers at significant cost to the economy.
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"I think in respect of immigration, it's definitely not the Brexit that I wanted, or indeed, many of people who voted Brexit wanted," he said.
"And we have to remember, you know, we're all stuck in this Brexit argument, we have to remember that what post-Brexit Britain looks like, is not the preserve of those people that voted Brexit, it's for all of us to decide."
In 2016, he had said: “On balance, I think we will be better off out”, and that without radical change the UK was “heading for a long era of low growth”.
Of course if a turkey votes for Christmas then that is on them and they need to live with the consequences.
At least people on Twitter seemed to think so. Here's what they made of it:
\u201cComedy gold that leading Brexidiot Lord Wolfson of Next claims this isn't the Brexit he voted for and we need more foreign workers.\n\nhttps://t.co/ThDaZ8YZT4\u201d— Andrew Carver (@Andrew Carver) 1668065858
\u201cNext boss Lord Wolfson, 2016: Brexit! "Let's place our trust in the collective intelligence and endeavour of Britain\u2019s 30 million-strong workforce."\n\nNext boss Lord Wolfson, 2022: "This isn't the Brexit I wanted." We need more foreign workers!\nhttps://t.co/xgobOI4DIU\u201d— Best for Britain (@Best for Britain) 1668072179
\u201cA shortage of immigrants is crippling the economy says Brexit voting Lord Wolfson. \n\nWasn't that the whole point of Brexit? \ud83e\udd21\n\nhttps://t.co/ai3iCOF5W8\u201d— Michael\ud83c\udf31 \u24cb #FBPE.\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Michael\ud83c\udf31 \u24cb #FBPE.\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1668062370
\u201cAnother "I didn't think Brexit would affect ME?!?!"\n\nRabid Brexiter and Tory peer Lord Wolfson said the UK's current immigration policy was crippling economic growth\n\n#BrexitReality\u201d— Russell England \ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83e\uddf3\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Russell England \ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83e\uddf3\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1668064602
\u201cLord Wolfson (then) : Vote Brexit and stop all the foreigners coming !\n\nLord Wolfson (now) : Help ! Why aren't the foreigners coming ? The economy is collapsing ! \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83e\udd21\ud83e\udd21\nhttps://t.co/bEk5aED0mS\u201d— Alex Taylor (@Alex Taylor) 1668064762
\u201cBrexit backer Lord Wolfson says on BBC that immigration rules should be relaxed to tackle labour shortages and that "This is not the brexit we wanted". I'm pretty confident that this is the brexit they were warned about.\u201d— Carlos H \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\u2764 (@Carlos H \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\u2764) 1668068058
\u201cLord Wolfson @BBCr4today IV absurd\n\n"In respect to immigration it's def not the Brexit I wanted"\n\nSo he wants soft Brexit & EU rule taking?\n\nHe still doesn't get it. There isn't a version of Brexit that "works". It is & always has been an exercise in damage limitation. Full stop\u201d— Mujtaba Rahman (@Mujtaba Rahman) 1668070324
\u201c2016: \u2018Next boss Lord Wolfson throws weight behind Brexit\u2019\n\n2022: \u2018Next boss calls for more workers from overseas\u2019\u201d— Farrukh (@Farrukh) 1668065393
\u201cHearing pro-Brexit business person complain about immigration being too low (Lord Wolfson on Today programme right now). What did they think was going to happen?\u201d— Sonia Sodha (@Sonia Sodha) 1668069850
\u201cTwo headlines:\n\n\u2018Hard Brexit is good for us says retail king, Lord Wolfson\u2019\n-2019\n\n\u2018\u2019Next boss Lord Wolfson says UK needs more foreign workers\u2019\n-Today\u201d— Paul Johnson (@Paul Johnson) 1668067602
We have no words.
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