Britain’s “appalling” treatment of EU nationals could lead to labour shortages and higher inflation, the Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has warned.
[...] Sir Vince, the former business secretary, said there was “bags of evidence that a lot of Europeans are leaving”, starting to affect sectors such as construction, hospitality and the health service.
“We are going to get an exodus,” he said. “These are traditional labour-intensive services, so if the people aren’t there, you either don’t get the service or the prices go up.”
Net immigration fell by one-quarter in the year to March, driven by a 59 per cent rise in emigration among people from eight eastern European countries including Poland.
[...]His comments come as his party begins its annual conference, in Bournemouth, the first since he became leader in July. The Lib Dems have been the most pro-EU of the main parties, calling for a referendum on the terms of Brexit. But that message failed to resonate in June’s general election, and the party remains in single-digits in opinion polls.
“I think people just felt, you’re re-running the first [referendum],” he said. “A better way of putting it is that it’s the first referendum on the facts. After the negotiations are completed, we will have a much clearer picture of what Brexit actually means.”
But Sir Vince also said that the Lib Dems must avoid “the danger” of becoming a “single issue party”.
“I will make the point very strongly at conference that we’re not Ukip in reverse,” he said, arguing the party needed to be associated with economic policy, social justice, equality and the environment, as well as Brexit. His aims are to increase the Lib Dems’ vote share and its council seats over the coming years.
Sir Vince highlighted poor productivity growth in the UK and criticised Theresa May’s “simplistic view” that immigration controls would address it. “Economies don’t work like that. People have to have long term stability and confidence, and at the moment they don’t have any,” he said. [...]
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