Theresa May is under pressure from ministers to let in tens of thousands of unskilled migrants every year - even after Britain leaves the EU.

Sky News understands Cabinet ministers have voiced concerns about the drive to cut EU migration in a number of low-income sectors after Brexit.

Downing Street is determined to end free movement and ministers have publicly referred to attracting "the brightest and the best" of highly-skilled workers in future.

But privately, some have argued that tens of thousands of low-skilled jobs currently filled by migrants cannot easily be replaced with British labour, if they face shortages.

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Home Office officials have been holding informal discussions with Government departments calling for unskilled migrants to continue working in sectors including agriculture, hospitality, construction and social care.


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One Cabinet minister said there is now an admission that "we can't just talk about high-skilled people; it has to be low skilled as well" or sectors of the economy would suffer.

"It's seasonal work like fruit picking which only lasts two months a year, but someone working at [the cafe chain] Pret could arguably be described as unskilled."

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Brexit Cabinet Committee after a document drawn up by Home Office officials was circulated.

Image: Theresa May is under pressure to allow in many unskilled workers from abroad

Another Cabinet source said discussions about which sectors would get priority for low-skilled workers, when a new immigration regime is set up, was "where the tension will come".

Officials are said to be concerned about a backlash from voters worried about the impact of low-skilled migration on wages and public services, which was highlighted by the Leave campaign.

But farmers and rural Tory MPs have expressed concerns about restricting seasonal labour - which employs around 80,000 people, mostly from the EU.

Proposals for a seasonal workers' scheme are understood to have stalled because a similar scheme - which brought in tens of thousands of mostly Romanians and Bulgarians - was axed by Mrs May when she was home secretary in 2013.

Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, raised concerns earlier this year that any new work permit system would have to include construction workers in order to meet the target of building a million homes by 2020.

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Nearly 250,000 overseas workers are employed in both high and lower-skilled jobs, including more than 30,000 from Poland.

During the referendum campaign Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, pointed out the reliance on 80,000 EU workers in the social care system, which already faces significant cost and staffing pressures.

This week, David Davis, the Brexit secretary, reassured business leaders that when free movement ends they will not face labour shortages.

At a CBI speech in Wales, he said: "No-one wants to see labour shortages in key sectors. That wouldn't be in anybody's interest."

The latest immigration figures revealed 650,000 immigrants had come to the UK in the year to June, with Romanians the biggest national group at 10% of the total.

Number 10 and the Home Office insist they still hope to meet their target to cut net migration to under 100,000.

A source familiar with the talks said: "Meeting that target was always going to be really difficult.

"The public now view immigration as a numbers game. Although we need an honest debate about what kind of control we can have, some people in Government need to recognise where the public are on this.

"There will be some shortages that are better filled domestically and there will be discussions with employers about that, but free movement is not going to continue."



A Home Office spokesperson said: "Government has been clear that, as we conduct our negotiations, it must be a priority to regain more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe.

"It would not be right for us to give a running commentary on negotiations.



"The UK needs a fair and controlled immigration policy and that is exactly what this government will deliver."