When the Labour government announced in February 2025 that the UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme would be extended for another five years, the decision was framed as a pragmatic compromise. Farmers had been lobbying hard for certainty in the wake of Brexit, labour shortages, and the government’s controversial inheritance tax proposals. For them, the extension was a political victory and an economic necessity.

Yet behind the headlines, the decision sparked renewed outrage from campaigners and migrant workers themselves, who argue the scheme has become a pipeline of exploitation. The extension, far from fixing longstanding flaws, risks embedding systemic abuse into Britain’s food supply chain for the foreseeable future.

Launched in 2019 as a pilot with just 2,500 workers, the Seasonal Worker Scheme was originally presented as a temporary measure to plug post-Brexit labour gaps in agriculture. But within six years it has grown almost twentyfold, with 45,000 visas issued in 2025. The majority of participants are recruited from Central Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe-regions where economic hardship pushes people to accept tough jobs abroad despite the risks.

The expansion reflects the stark reality of Britain’s agricultural economy. Domestic workers have shown little interest in backbreaking farm labour, and EU nationals who once dominated the sector can no longer enter freely. Without migrants, the horticultural industry would collapse.

For farmers, the scheme is indispensable. But for workers, it has become synonymous with precarity.

At the core of the system lies a structural contradiction: seasonal workers are essential, yet disposable. The scheme ties their visas to private “scheme operators,” six licensed companies that recruit abroad and place workers with British farms. These operators, who act as both sponsors and gatekeepers, wield immense power over workers’ legal status.

If a worker complains, loses their placement, or is dismissed, they risk not only unemployment but deportation. Requests for transfers to other employers are theoretically possible but often delayed or ignored. Many workers wait months, only to see their contracts expire before changes can be made.

Kate Roberts, head........

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