Monday 15 May 2023

Following Suella Braverman's speech at the National Conservatism conference, Richard Burge, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said: “We are disappointed by Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s speech as our current byzantine visa rules hold back jobs and economic growth across the capital and the country. To give just one example, we recently held the seminal Eurovision 2023 Ukraine Business Summit in Liverpool where many Ukrainian business people could not as the Home Office had not issued the visas in time. International artists who come to the UK to engage with our world-beating creative industries are also facing visa delays – from Afrobeat musicians to members of an orchestra. Business people who want to visit London and the United Kingdom to consider investing in British commerce and using British services - face visa red tape and delays. The Home Office and Home Secretary seem to have no interest or commitment to the economic needs of our country. Behind every visa application they see an enemy of the state. Until the Home Secretary changes her visa policy and her dysfunctional department is reformed, the Government’s vision of Global Britain will not be realised”.

ENDS