LONDON: Britain’s opposition Labour party is to accuse supermarket giant Tesco and clothing retailer Next of turning away British workers where possible to exploit cheaper migrant labour.
In a speech that will drag the firms into a politically-charged immigration debate ahead of a 2015 election, senior Labour lawmaker and immigration spokesman Chris Bryant will accuse the companies today of deliberately excluding British people.
“It is unfair that unscrupulous employers whose only interest seems to be finding labour as cheaply as possible, will recruit workers in large numbers in low wage countries in the EU, (and) bring them to the UK,” Bryant will say, according to advance extracts of his speech.
Polls show immigration is one of the subjects that worries British voters the most and any perception that retailers are deliberately disadvantaging locals could damage Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives as well as the firms themselves.
Cameron is trying to stop an exodus of voters to the anti-immigration UK Independence Party before the 2015 vote.
Bryant will accuse Tesco of favouring workers from Eastern Europe over British ones and of relocating one of its distribution centres in a way that discouraged local employees to continue working for the firm.
He will also accuse Next of bussing in workers from Poland to skirt British labour laws that would make hiring comparable local workers more expensive.
Brazil’s military regime spied on neighbours
SAO PAULO: Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship spied on its Latin American neighbours and feared a conflict with Argentina, a Sao Paulo daily reported yesterday, citing declassified armed forces documents.
The disclosure by Estado de Sao Paulo came as Brazil is fuming over allegations of US electronic spying on its territory.
Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota plans to raise the allegations, based on leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, in a meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry in Brasilia tomorrow.
Estado said the documents from the Armed Forces General Staff showed that Brazilian military attaches and diplomats were tasked with collecting military and strategic secrets of Latin American countries.
Agencies
