Although 1.3 million people in Britain are officially out of work, and a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development suggested the true figure could be more than three times higher, the welfare benefits system may also deter people from taking seasonal work, he suggests.Last Wednesday, though, only about 100 were working the fields in their orange-and-green overalls — just half the number needed to strip all the beans and pluck the ripened berries before they begin to rot.
Perhaps so. Yet our arable farms need 70,000 overseas casual workers each year to maintain full productivity, and given the improving fortunes of citizens in EU nations such as Romania, they are highly unlikely to come here in such great numbers ever again. What, then, can be done?
Vasco Silva, the CEO of Kleya, which helps foreigners move to Portugal, said his company had received many queries about what was going on, adding that some investors had rushed their decision just incase the programme was altered or binned.
"Everyone who knows me, knows about my never ending love for Manchester United. The years I spent in this club where absolutely amazing and the path we've made together is written in gold letters in the history of this great and amazing institution," he wrote on Instagram website
To apply, non-EU nationals must make a significant investment in Portugal, such as buying real estate. They are then given residency rights and are allowed visa-free travel throughout Europe's Schengen area.
United announced that they had agreed a deal with Juventus website to bring the 36-year-old back to Manchester last week, with the transfer now complete after the Portuguese forward passed a medical, secured a visa and agreed personal terms.
Juve said the transfer fee agreed was 15 million euros ($17.74 million) plus eight million euros in performance-related add-ons as Ronaldo returns to the club where he won eight major trophies from 2003-2009.
MANCHESTER, England, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo declared he was back where he belonged after he re-joined Manchester United from Juventus on a two-year deal on Tuesday, with the forward dedicating the move to his mentor Alex Ferguson.
LISBON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Investments through Portugal's "golden visa", which gives wealthy foreigners residence rights, jumped nearly 50% last month, data showed on Sunday, as the government considers whether to scrap the controversial scheme.
He then went on to capture two LaLiga and four Champions League titles with Real Madrid, as well as four further Ballon d'Or awards, ending his stint at the Spanish club as their all-time top scorer with 451 goals.
"We are not allowing entrance to criminals or money for which we do not know the source," Silva said. "Exceptions can happen but it will be one in 10,000 or two in 10,000 and of course those are the ones that go public."
He spent six seasons at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009, where he won the Ballon d'Or as the world's best player in 2008 alongside his team accolades, before sealing a then world record 80 million pounds ($110 million) move to Real Madrid.
The overseas pickers were permitted to work temporarily in Britain under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme (SAWS), which was passed after World War II amid determined efforts to increase food production, and ran from 1949 to 2013.
The main reason, he says, is Romania's recent economic boom, which has seen job vacancies soar and the average wage rise by 9.4 per cent. Until recently, a Romanian doctor could earn four times more picking fruit in Britain than practising medicine, but the gap has narrowed considerably.
The Portuguese branch of anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) has said the programme could be used for money laundering, while the European Commission has said it considers such schemes a potential security risk.
"My first domestic League, my first Cup, my first call to the Portuguese National team, my first Champions League, my first Golden Boot and my first Ballon d´Or, they were all born from this special connection between me and the Red Devils," added Ronaldo, who spent the last 12 years winning a glut of trophies at Real Madrid and Juventus.
Britain scrapped golden visas in February following the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money. Portugal suspended golden visas for Russians, but 431 had already benefited from the scheme since the time of its launch, according to SEF. ($1 = 0.9497 euros) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
The farm lobby says the next influx of pickers will have to come from outside the EU, from huge countries where low wages and unemployment remain a problem. Places such as Ukraine — which already sends tens of thousands of seasonal farm-workers to Germany — and Russia.
Meanwhile, in Sussex, 150 tonnes of lettuce have had to remain uncut in the past few weeks; during the summer eight tonnes of Class One Scottish strawberries went unpicked; and at Haygrove, a major soft-fruit farm near Ledbury, Herefordshire, 87,000 punnets of raspberries have just been written off through lack of manpower.