STEPHEN Blease (The Cumberland News,  October 8), along with a correspondent of the previous week, blames lorry driver shortages (and much else besides) on Brexit.

I blame Tony Blair.

Blair aimed at getting 50 per cent of young people into higher education (take the ‘higher’ with a pinch of salt).

We now have the ridiculous scenario of too many young people taking an expensive three-year holiday for Mickey Mouse courses at the University of Raughton Head (not yet built but it wouldn’t surprise me). Add on indulgent gap year travel (let’s hope the pandemic has put paid to that) and too many adults don’t enter serious employment until nearly their mid-twenties; a good starting point for doctors, vets and the like but otherwise crackers.

Armed with a certificate in whatever, vital but unglamorous jobs are never going to be acceptable.

Is it not racist to import cheap labour to do the jobs we consider beneath us? I don’t blame young people. In addition to vital jobs being under-valued, there is the appalling snobbery that looks down on ‘on-the-job education’.

Brexit and the pandemic have highlighted our folly regarding labour provision... but they have not caused it.

Of course we need an educated workforce, but we have been blinkered in how we achieve that.

As to Mr Blease wanting Leave voters to be at the back of the queue, have a look at where low-paid (ie female) singles are in the housing queue – and they would stand even less chance with an open EU border.

But Mr Blease will never be a low-paid, single female.

Miss S M Towers
Cross Lane, Wigton