Labour force

Having been reminded yesterday of the abuse scandals in the mental health and care sectors in the second half of the last century, the piece at reference 2 makes me wonder what sort of people are going to wind up staffing the health and care sectors when we have driven net migration down to something like zero.

I dare say Farage himself has amassed plenty enough money to go private should he or his have need of health or social care, and will not be experiencing any of this at first hand, but I dare say also that plenty of his followers - nearly all of them in fact - have not. Let's hope that they do not change their tune when it is too late.

When will our leaders collectively come clean with us and tell us that if we want decent care going forward, we are going to have to make do with fewer foreign holidays and fewer consumer toys?

PS: FIL had lots of experience of recruiting mental nurses from Mauritius, for the Exe Vale group of hospitals, with the first wave of same being of very high quality - and, over the years, I have come across a number of them here in Epsom. The snap above was turned up by Bing.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2026/01/shirley-oaks.html.

Reference 2: Is UK immigration set for ‘net zero’: Migration surge after Brexit and Covid lockdowns has eased while clampdown has slashed arrivals - Delphine Strauss, Financial Times - 2026.