Prime minister faces pressure to loosen the borders without risking election oblivion
In the post-pandemic era, pubs have found it hard to find staff to pull pints.
Workers were cautious about joining an industry that had been shut down in Covid and competition for staff was fierce.
Yet whereas the pub chain may have looked overseas in the past, Brexit now means it is far harder to attract the kinds of workers who would have staffed the bar in years gone by. Many roles do not meet the salary or qualifications thresholds under the new regime.
The hospitality industry has almost 130,000 vacancies and has been pleading with officials to be added to the Shortage Occupations List, which can ease the threshold to bring in migrants.