SCOTLAND’S engineering prowess is the latest to be recorded as being under threat from a skills shortage that is permeating sector after sector across the UK.
Labour pressures for many are at crisis point, including areas that are central to getting the economy going and keeping it moving.
Hospitality is one of the worst hit, unable to recruit workers from Europe, and calling for a fairer visa system.
Aviation is in a similar position, and being told by the UK Government the reason is the industry can’t manage logistics.
Paul Sheerin, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, said that, “in terms of business threats, pole position is once again held by skills, regularly cited as the economic speed limiter that sets the maximum output for a business”.
Policies that can nurture an adequate flow of labour, such as those related to immigration, make up the backbone of our fiscal society.
So the frustration among policymakers having difficulty obtaining accurate information from the UK Government to shape where we place the focus in future is understandable, especially when we know all is not well.
Chris Bryant, Rhonda Labour MP and chairman of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, who said he would recuse himself from consideration of the investigation into whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson intentionally misled the House of Commons, raised concerns in a BBC interview this week.
“I’m not sure if it counts as comedy or not,” said Mr Bryant, “But one of the most strange moments was when he [Mr Johnson] was asked by my colleague Stephen Timms why he had not yet corrected the record when the statistics authority told him he had been using false statistics, ie lying, about the employment statistics.
“Boris Johnson said he had corrected the record, and it turns out that that too was a lie, so not only has he not corrected the record, but he has not corrected the record about not correcting the record. This is where it becomes problematic.”
That Downing Street would suggest those who dropped from employment statistics during the pandemic, said to be mostly people nearing retirement, will take up all the vacant roles across the aviation, engineering and hospitality sectors, for example, might give an idea why we need to be open about policy to help keep the economy moving forward.
We should not be surprised by any of his lies
BoJo lied? I’m shocked!
I thought the title meant that he’d never actually been PM this whole time
It’s simpler to list things he hasn’t lied about.
Lying about your personal circumstances is enough to see the average government employee barred from holding Developed Vetting clearance required to see highly classified information.
I’m sure Boris will still get access to all the juicy TS briefings even if he doesn’t meet the standard we hold the rest of our (non-MP) government employees to.
To be fair, at this stage I would be more surprised if he told the truth about something.
At this point you have to wonder what the conservatives are actually conserving.
Nothing will happen to him. The man should be in jail for the corruption he’s been at the head of.
Johnson has lied about everything in his life.
Why do the public expect the impossible from an INEPT person like Johnson????
Stop complaining , stop whinging, stand up and do something constructive when is your time to vote to correct this saga.
Watch him do it again next week
I’m sure in his mind he was telling the truth. Boris has made an art of deceiving people and we fall for it every time.
Johnson hopes no one will ever look too deeply into anything he says, he just wants to make soundbites and headlines in the right wing media. Unfortunately, he has lied so often that everyone is now investigating the truth behind everything he says. He could say his favourite book is Ulysses by James Joyce and people would rush to see if such a book existed and was actually written by Joyce just to be sure Johnson had not made that up.
Boris Johnson lying????
Really? He couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it.
Lord of Lies. The Devil Himself.
He’s Johnson. He sends emails, he does lie when his lips aren’t moving!
What would be simpler and less confusing is just to list the times he has told Truth.
Boris Johnson lied? I am shocked, appalled and sickened.
19 comments
Since it seems to be behind a paywall, here’s the article (or see the [archived page](https://archive.ph/7gl9s)).
#Johnson ‘lied about employment’ – standards chair
[Brian Donelly](https://www.heraldscotland.com/author/profile/73722.Brian_Donnelly/)
___
SCOTLAND’S engineering prowess is the latest to be recorded as being under threat from a skills shortage that is permeating sector after sector across the UK.
Labour pressures for many are at crisis point, including areas that are central to getting the economy going and keeping it moving.
Hospitality is one of the worst hit, unable to recruit workers from Europe, and calling for a fairer visa system.
Aviation is in a similar position, and being told by the UK Government the reason is the industry can’t manage logistics.
Paul Sheerin, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, said that, “in terms of business threats, pole position is once again held by skills, regularly cited as the economic speed limiter that sets the maximum output for a business”.
Policies that can nurture an adequate flow of labour, such as those related to immigration, make up the backbone of our fiscal society.
So the frustration among policymakers having difficulty obtaining accurate information from the UK Government to shape where we place the focus in future is understandable, especially when we know all is not well.
Chris Bryant, Rhonda Labour MP and chairman of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, who said he would recuse himself from consideration of the investigation into whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson intentionally misled the House of Commons, raised concerns in a BBC interview this week.
“I’m not sure if it counts as comedy or not,” said Mr Bryant, “But one of the most strange moments was when he [Mr Johnson] was asked by my colleague Stephen Timms why he had not yet corrected the record when the statistics authority told him he had been using false statistics, ie lying, about the employment statistics.
“Boris Johnson said he had corrected the record, and it turns out that that too was a lie, so not only has he not corrected the record, but he has not corrected the record about not correcting the record. This is where it becomes problematic.”
That Downing Street would suggest those who dropped from employment statistics during the pandemic, said to be mostly people nearing retirement, will take up all the vacant roles across the aviation, engineering and hospitality sectors, for example, might give an idea why we need to be open about policy to help keep the economy moving forward.
We should not be surprised by any of his lies
BoJo lied? I’m shocked!
I thought the title meant that he’d never actually been PM this whole time
It’s simpler to list things he hasn’t lied about.
Lying about your personal circumstances is enough to see the average government employee barred from holding Developed Vetting clearance required to see highly classified information.
I’m sure Boris will still get access to all the juicy TS briefings even if he doesn’t meet the standard we hold the rest of our (non-MP) government employees to.
To be fair, at this stage I would be more surprised if he told the truth about something.
At this point you have to wonder what the conservatives are actually conserving.
Nothing will happen to him. The man should be in jail for the corruption he’s been at the head of.
Johnson has lied about everything in his life.
Why do the public expect the impossible from an INEPT person like Johnson????
Stop complaining , stop whinging, stand up and do something constructive when is your time to vote to correct this saga.
Watch him do it again next week
I’m sure in his mind he was telling the truth. Boris has made an art of deceiving people and we fall for it every time.
Johnson hopes no one will ever look too deeply into anything he says, he just wants to make soundbites and headlines in the right wing media. Unfortunately, he has lied so often that everyone is now investigating the truth behind everything he says. He could say his favourite book is Ulysses by James Joyce and people would rush to see if such a book existed and was actually written by Joyce just to be sure Johnson had not made that up.
Boris Johnson lying????
Really? He couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it.
Lord of Lies. The Devil Himself.
He’s Johnson. He sends emails, he does lie when his lips aren’t moving!
What would be simpler and less confusing is just to list the times he has told Truth.
Boris Johnson lied? I am shocked, appalled and sickened.
Whoa whoa whoa…
Boris johnson *lied?!?*
Unpossible!