The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Archive

Labour minister backtracks on accusations that Tesco and Next favour cheap Eastern Europeans over Britons

Labour minister backtracks on accusations that Tesco and Next favour cheap Eastern Europeans over Britons
12 August 2013
Ludovic Caritey
Avatar
Ludovic Caritey
12 August 2013

Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant was forced to back down today over claims that Tesco and Next employ foreign workers to drive costs down following a backlash from the two companies’ management.

According to the briefed version of his speech on immigration, reported in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, Mr Bryant was expected to accuse two of Britain’s more profitable companies of operating policies which “seem to deliberately exclude British people”.

The row was based on allegations that staff working at the Tesco centre in Harlow, which was being moved to Dagenham, were told that they could only move to the new centre if they took a cut in pay and that as a result a large percentage of the staff hired at the new premises were from Eastern European countries paid on low wages.

After a Tesco spokesman denied the claims and pointed out that the company had just recruited 350 local people to work in its new distribution centre, Bryant’s much anticipated speech to the IPPR centre-left think-tank was moderated today.  He rejected claims made in the Sunday Telegraph that he described Tesco and Next as “unscrupulous employers.”

Instead the shadow minister praised Tesco as “a good employer and an important source of jobs in Britain”.

However, he questioned Next’s reliance on workers from Poland on short-term contracts, stating: “When agencies bring such a large number of workers of a specific nationality at a time when there are one million young unemployed in Britain, it is right to ask why this is happening.”

When asked by Channel 4 News if he regretted using the two companies as examples over the weekend, Chris Bryant said: “I’m not backtracking from my basic point. If you’re going to make migration work for everyone in the country, big employers including those who are scrupulous about trying to employ local workers like Tesco and Next have a duty to the rest of the community to make sure they follow up on these promises.”

Labour’s attack is designed to regain the upper hand on the issue of immigration and to direct attention to employers as Tories came under fierce criticism for its anti-immigrant campaign after the Home Office sent out vans carrying posters warning illegal migrants to “go home or face arrest”.

Ludovic Caritey

Related Items

More in Archive

Achieve timeless elegance this S/S 2014 with S.I.L.K.

Ellie Owen
Read More

Bespoke jewellery by Charlotte Tamar

Niten Thakor
Read More

Enjoy designer luxury with Alexis Smith Lingerie’s A/W 2013 collection

Ellie Owen
Read More

Embrace vibrancy and colour with PPQ this winter

Ellie Owen
Read More

Kenzo Metallics adds the sparkle to you Christmas wardrobe

Niten Thakor
Read More

A Christmas alternative: Cranberry and Orange Jeweled Nut Bake

Bethany Stone
Read More

An Austique shopping guide: your one-stop shop for last minute gifts

Christianna Pugliese
Read More

A comforting twist to designer heels

Michelle McGill
Read More

Iain Duncan Smith condemned for refusing to meet with Trussell Trust

Abbie Cavendish
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Limbo
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Delectible drinks that would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift
    Food & Drinks
  • Killing Escobar
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • “There really hasn’t been a film that deals with a platonic male-female relationship in this way”: Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass discuss Language Lessons
    Berlinale
  • A Brixton Tale
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Surge
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • The Old Ways
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Berlinale 2021 winners: The full list
    Berlinale
  • WandaVision
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Coming 2 America
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Dissident
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Disappearing Dining Club hosts Dinner Dates at Town House
Introducing the new “On the Go!” hair curling wand from YOGI