NATIONAL protests at the employment of foreign workers highlight a growing problem in Fenland – according to MP Malcolm Moss. Mr Moss believes strikes at power stations across the UK underline how the employment of foreign agency workers has a damaging ef

NATIONAL protests at the employment of foreign workers highlight a growing problem in Fenland - according to MP Malcolm Moss.

Mr Moss believes strikes at power stations across the UK underline how the employment of foreign agency workers has a damaging effect on the Fenland community.

In an article in the North East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association's In Touch leaflet, Mr Moss writes: "More foreign workers than local people are prepared to work at, or even below, the minimum wage through agency work conditions.

"Such is the competition for low labour costs among local businesses that some agencies are cutting corners and committing tax fraud as well as other questionable practices and the workers are exploited.

"Foreign workers are short-changed by having illegal deductions taken from their wages and local people are priced out of the job market.

"I never thought that I would say this but I now doubt that there is much benefit to the local community from those businesses employing agency labour.

"They pay rates and taxes directly to central Government and the foreign workers' wages are repatriated in one way or another to other countries and not spent or invested in our local community.

"Since many of these workers live in properties of "multiple occupation" the Council Tax yield is lower than it otherwise would be per person and those local workers priced out of work on benefits claim Council Tax benefit which is a cost borne by all taxpayers.

"I not only question whether foreign workers are beneficial to the UK economy as a whole, but I believe that denying working people basic employment rights, hard fought for over centuries, is simply a recipe for disaster."

"If it insisted that all workers, agency or otherwise, enjoyed the same fundamental employment rights then at least we would have a level playing field and local people would be able to compete fairly for local jobs.