Last night, Channel 4 News aired a report on labour shortages in Scottish fish processing plants. Unsurprisingly, it explained at length how a supposed Brexit horror show has made it more difficult for large firms to rely on cheap foreign labour. Sombre voiceovers and (unattributed) quotes from business chiefs animated over footage of empty boats conveyed the scale of the crisis: “The outlook is grim”, says one anonymous leader; “We have no applications coming in“, says another. They do at least interview one named factory manager on-camera, who laments how “the free movement has been taken away“, and blames his labour shortage “predominantly on Brexit“. There was just one thing missing from the report: any interviews with actual workers…

As Guido is repeatedly pointing out these days, managers and CEOs bemoaning their inability to undercut staff pay by importing cheap foreign labour isn’t likely to push the dial for most Brexit voters. Offer competitive wages, the applications will come in. Poorly-paid leave voters won’t lose much sleep over this report – their votes inevitably leading to better pay is exactly what the Leave campaign argued would happen, and what Leave voters bargained for. This genre of pro-low wage Brexit bashing may massage the egos of FBPE-ers, for many others it means thicker wallets…