Raab says prisoners and asylum seekers could fill employment gaps

Newly appointed justice secretary Dominic Raab has said he would be open to allowing asylum seekers and prisoners to plug the UK’s ongoing labour shortages.

The UK recently hit a record of over one million job openings and is facing a shortage of up to 100,000 HGV drivers.

He told the Spectator in an interview on Thursday: “We’ve been getting prisoners and offenders to do volunteering and unpaid work. Why not – if there are shortages – encourage them to do paid work where there’s a benefit for the economy, benefit for society?” #

He added: “If you give people skin in the game, give them something to lose, if you give them some hope, they’re much less likely to re-offend.”

People waiting for their asylum claims to be processed are not currently permitted to work unless their claim takes over a year to process, after which they are permitted to work in specific industries facing employment shortages.

However, Raab said he was “open-minded” about allowing asylum seekers to work to help tackle the UK’s labour shortage.

In July 2019, Prime minister Boris Johnson said the Home Office was currently reviewing the matter and that the government “will announce it soon.”

Earlier this month a senior Home Office official denied that any such review was in process.

Last week, former justice secretary Robert Buckland called for the government to allow those seeking asylum to be allowed to work.

Former Conservative MP Nick de Bois expressed support for Raab’s suggestion, highlighting: “About 60% of inmates go on to re-offend within two years of leaving prison – getting a job is the best remedy.”

Dr Rakib Ehsan, a research fellow on social and political risk at the Henry Jackson Society criticised Raab’s plans to extend asylum seekers’ employment rights, explaining: “The British political classes are responsible for creating an economy which is overly reliant on low-cost foreign labour. While the social and economic integration of refugees is important, we must do more to boost investment in our domestic workforce”