Op-ed: Covid-19 has proven value of migrants in Cumbria

RAMP Principal Tim Farron MP wrote the following op-ed for The Mail marking International Migrants Day.

As we marked International Migrants Day on Friday, I am mindful of the many migrants who have made Cumbria their home and are integral to our businesses, health and social care sector and our schools and communities.

We have 10,000 EU migrants alone working in Cumbria with 50 per cent of employees in the tourism sector being from the European Union.

Migrants are hugely essential to the Cumbrian economy – without them businesses would close. Some of our schools in the Lakes would be perilously low on pupil numbers without the children of migrants.

They enrich our communities and have become our neighbours here in Cumbria.

Lockdown and Covid restrictions brought into sharp focus our vulnerability and dependency on keyworkers.

See it in full here.