Myth of Lazy British Fruit Pickers

An unfounded myth of lazy British workers, unwilling to pick fruit has been allowed to flourish unchallenged. It's all a lie, and the truth is out.

If you are under 50, you will probably have grown up being told that British workers are lazy, not interested in doing manual labour. No other part of the economy articulates this more than the agricultural sector.

No matter how much our youth countered against this myth, those of us who are older mostly brushed away protests. The claims that our young were willing to work didn't fit our view of the modern world; it was easier for us to maintain our opinions that they weren't even trying. Probably because it allowed us to hold the superior belief that we are from a better, harder working generation. That belief made us feel better about ourselves, as though we once came through struggles that they couldn't.

We have a saying in finance that goes something like this, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.". It basically means that when the brown stuff hits the fan, the lies become exposed. 

The recent CoronaVirus crisis has shown, no matter what the emergency, UK Farmers are determined to use labour from Eastern Europe. Evidence of this is pilling up on social media. British applicants don't stand a chance. The claim that UK farmers have had to import 450 Romanian pickers is an out and out lie. They have chosen to do so because it is in their interests. They get kickbacks from multiple sources to make it worth their while.

To understand why it is in their interests, take 20 minutes to watch a Channel 4 news piece from 2015. They investigate the conditions that Eastern Europeans are forced to endure. No minimum wage, appalling living accommodations, sacked if they raise concerns. Things haven't changed since that video was made.

Bad Apples Documentary Channel 4

Twitter is now full of British people displaying their rejection letters from farm owners. That "lazy British" lie has now come crashing down; the myth is busted right before our eyes. Our young were right all along; they were being blocked from working. They are prevented from the entry-level opportunities that many of us grew up with, just because they refuse to be unlawfully exploited by gangmasters. 

In an ironic twist, it was us that turned out to be lazy; we didn't want to take action on their behalf. MPs that refuse to enforce minimum wage laws, maybe because the victims are foreign workers, leave our own workforce disadvantaged. Our young don't stand a chance if we don't help them, stand up for them in the same way our elders did for us. 

But yes, it was all a lie. British youngsters are willing to work summer jobs on farms, and now the evidence is in the open.