A funny letter inviting European HGV drivers to work in the UK is going viral.
Jack Dart, co-founder of youth group Inspire EU and youth voter registration organisation Yes I Will Vote, spoke of a “great deal” Britain has for lorry drivers from the continent post-Brexit.
The letter read: “Dear EU HGV drivers,
“Yes you, the bloody foreigners with funny accents and weird food.
Good deal?
“I know we said, ‘you were too lazy to work and were stealing our jobs’, but we’re sorry.
“We have this great deal to offer you.
“If you help bail us out of this sh*t show we created for ourselves, you can have a TEMPORARY VISA for FREE.
“I know it’s crap pay, hours and working conditions, and shitty weather over here, but we’ve got the Premier League and Little Chef restaurants.
“It’s just until we get things sorted of course, and then you can bugger off back wherever you came from.
“Sound like a good deal?
“Go immediately to…
“Gov.UK/gofuckyourselves/butnotjustyetcusweneedyou/brexit/thegiftthatkeepsongiving”.
Reactions
Reactions flooded in as hundreds of people shared the post.
“I know what I’d say to the UK government if I were an HGV driver from mainland Europe,” Gill Dunbar said.
And Vanessa Rambridge from Preston said: “WHY would anyone want to come here to work under those terms, knowing that they are NOT appreciated and only for them to be chucked out again once they have served their purpose?”
Colin Elcome added: “Weren’t they all supposed to be on benefits as well?
“I seem to remember the gammon having difficulties working that one out so just ignored it.”
Craig Macdonald, from Cardiff, had a briefer invitation for EU lorry drivers: “HEY THERE, EUROPEAN DRIVERS.
“COME SPEND WINTER ON FASCIST PLAGUE ISLAND!”
And Eric Hall asked: “Never mind the ‘crap pay, hours, working conditions and shitty weather’ – what about the hatred, the racist and the xenophobic abuse?”
Hall wondered why EU drivers would want to “put up with all of that in the UK”, instead of working in Germany “where they are appreciated and much closer to home”.
UK fuel shortages
It comes as long queues of drivers were waiting at petrol stations across the country because of a shortage of HGV truckers hitting fuel supplies.
Although the government insisted before that it did not want “foreign labour” to fill lorry driving jobs, there has been a shift this weekend after persistent shortages hit various industries over recent months.
Measures announced on Sunday include 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers, as well as 5,000 poultry workers to be allowed in the UK from abroad until 24 December.
Last month, Grant Shapps admitted the road freight sector faces “historic shortages”, but said: “I do not support using foreign labour to tackle a long-standing issue in the haulage industry.”
Shapps insisted leaving the European Union has provided the UK with the “opportunity to introduce a new immigration system while building a more resilient domestic workforce”.
In response, Labour’s Andrew Adonis said the transport secretary “would rather have HGV driver shortages, and thus food shortages in the shops, than allow more EU truck drivers.”
“Incredible Brexit blinkers,” Lord Adonis added.
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