Criticisms of companies by British politicians for hiring none British workers: Are these politicians living by example?

The issue of unemployment has been a major problem faced by British politicians in recent times. In 2007, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, tried and offered a potential solution to this problem by promising British jobs for British workers. Many labour supporters welcomed this statement but critics were quick to dismiss it as a mere window dressing that lacked substance. The critics were right.

The policy of British work for British workers was not implemented not only because Mr Brown did not stay long in power to see it through but also due to the fact that the policy is almost impossible to implement in the face of European Union Legislation on the rights of EU citizens to work in member states. However, another labour Member of Parliament, Chris Bryant, recently criticized companies such as Tesco and Next for preferring non-British workers over their British counterparts which suggests that the issue of British work for British people is still alive and kicking. Are British companies justified for recruiting non British citizens as opposed to British citizens for UK jobs? Are politicians justified for calling on British companies to recruit more British citizens than their non British counterparts?

Businesses accused of recruiting non British citizens to work in Britain have cited lack of willing British citizens to fill in vacancies within their companies. They claim that they want to offer jobs to as many British people as possible but only very few of them are coming forward for the offer. In the absence of such willing British citizens to take up jobs, these companies are justified to hire non British workers for the vacant positions. Critics have argued however that the reason for the lack of willing British citizens to work for the rogue British companies is due to both poor pay and condition of work. Non British workers are being asked by the rogue companies to do much work for less pay. British citizens consider this to be an act of slavery and do not want to work as slaves in their own country.

Another reason that businesses operating in the United Kingdom may not recruit from the pool of unemployed British citizens within the Kingdom but hire non British workers is that the businesses are not charities that survive on the generosity of donors such as individuals and governments. The businesses are profit making enterprises which are bankrolled by shareholders. They need to make high margins not only to satisfy these shareholders who want high returns for their investment but also to continue operating on the market. They can only accomplish these lofty goals by hiring the best labour force in the market even though this involves leaving British workers out of British jobs.

Furthermore, businesses that are recruiting foreign workers instead of their British counterparts to work in the UK can justify their policy on the ground that British politicians are guilty of similar offences. The governor of the bank of England, Mark Carney, for example, is neither a British citizen nor a British resident. Mr Carney is Canadian and was formerly the head of the central bank of his country. He is recruited for the current post at the Bank of England because his employer, the British government, thinks that he is the best candidate for the job. In other words, there are no suitably qualified British citizens to do the job better than Carney. While this appointment should be welcome in this time of economic crisis, it is difficult to understand how the British government had sought for a British citizen from millions of British citizens living in the UK to do the job but could not find any one.

Also recently, the Conservative party recruited an American strategist, Professor Jim Messina, to help them win the next general elections in 2015. Professor Jim Messina was the ex campaign manager for President Barack Obama and credited for helping him win two terms of office. By recruiting him, the Conservatives hope that Professor Messina can repeat the same miracle that he performed for Obama during the last two presidential elections in US.

The Labour party does not want to be left in the wilderness but wants to follow the footsteps of the Conservative party by searching for campaign strategists abroad to help them win the next general election. The names of people such as Tom McMahon, who was the former executive director of the Democratic National Convention in the run-up to the 2008 election, and Mitch Stewart who also was a former campaign strategist for the Democratic Party during the 2008 election are among the ones being considered by the labour party for appointments. It is hoped by the Labour party that these candidates, if recruited, could be the perfect match for Professor Messina recruited by the Conservatives.

It is hypocritical of politicians who are employing foreigners to work for them in the UK to criticize companies for not employing British citizens. For their calls to be heard, these politicians should live by example which means recruiting British citizens for political positions. Until this is done, people cannot take the politicians seriously in terms of British workers for British jobs.