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.

Migrants make up some of these keyworkers in Cumbria and I’d like to recognise all these individuals who have contributed to keeping all our vital services going in this most challenging of years.

As we look at rebuilding from Covid, our national immigration policies need to reflect the integral part that migrants play in many areas of life in the UK.

Changes in immigration policy coming into effect in January will make it harder for employers in Cumbria to operate because the new rules don’t allow for the reality that highly skilled doesn’t only mean the highest salaries or that lower paid does not mean low skilled.

Our local employers are reeling with the impact of Covid on their businesses, they are simply not ready for the changes the new immigration rules will bring.

Even with an increased number of unemployed people in my constituency due to Covid, this doesn’t touch the numbers needed by employers in Cumbria who employ 20,000 people from outside the UK.

TIM FARRON

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP