Evening Standard comment: The effects of Brexit on nursing, in numbers | A new treason law? | London’s blooming

The effects of Brexit can sometimes be summarised in bald numbers.

Consider these. Before the 2016 referendum, the number of nurses arriving in Britain from EU countries was roughly 9,000. In the year to March, that figure fell to 900.

Take yet another figure. The number of unfilled NHS nursing posts in London is just shy of 9,000, with nearly 2,000 of them in mental health.

So, if European nurses, from countries including Romania, Spain and Italy, are not filling the vacancies in our hospitals, who will? There could hardly be starker evidence of the extent of our reliance on the movement of professionals from our European neighbours to help keep our services running, especially the health service on which we all depend.

Of the 10,000 European nurses that have left the register since the referendum, half cited Brexit and its uncertainties as a reason.

The numbers on the register overall have increased in the past year but nursing vacancy rates in London, at 13.5 per cent, remain stubbornly hard to fill.

Of course, the NHS should be training even more of its own staff too — and the withdrawal of bursaries from student nurses left many applicants with formidable levels of student debt. Yet reversing the fall in applications is taking time and hospital vacancies must be filled now.

The health service must also work harder to retain existing staff — 1,000 left in the last year due to work-related stress — many of whom struggle to reconcile their shift patterns with a work-life balance. Yet even if more nursing staff remain in hospitals or return to them, it still won’t be enough to fill vacancies in London hospitals now.

The reality is that the NHS recruits from all over the world; it is seeking to attract more nurses from Jamaica, India and the Philippines.

We shall be glad to have them but we should very much miss the EU nurses, doctors, consultants and specialists. And it’s not just our hospitals which rely on European workers, but also construction, tech, retail and banking sectors.

Again, we want our own young people to have the skills to work in these sectors, but recruitment at home will not fill all the places occupied by Europeans.

Our hospitals and our economy need EU workers. It’s a reality that the Brexit debate must take on board.

A new treason law?

The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, is to update security and counter-terrorism measures and one thing he’s considering is a new take on the treason laws.

It’s an eye-catching measure that could help deal with those involved in hostile activities here on behalf of foreign powers — as in the Novichok attack in Salisbury.

He is also preparing a new Espionage Bill which could include a requirement for lobbyists and those who act for foreign governments to register their activities, as happens in some other countries. He may also update the Official Secrets Act.

Indeed, he already has a new counter-terrorism measure, the “designated territory” offence, which would enable him, for instance, to ban individuals from Syria without good reason.

Mr Javid is right to suggest, as he does in a speech at New Scotland Yard to security chiefs today, that we should do more “to meet current and evolving threats to the UK, both domestically and overseas”.

The threats are constantly changing and we need legislation that equips police and intelligence services to deal with it.

Treason isn’t outdated; it just takes different forms.

London’s blooming

There is no more reassuring element of the English social calendar than the Chelsea Flower Show, which opens this week, but horticulture reflects the challenges of our day quite as much as anything else.

The garden designed by the Duchess of Cambridge for children to play in reflects the need for urban children to engage more with nature.

Other gardens try to encourage young people to eat their exhibits and explore them.

Gardening can be the solution to modern needs as well as a source of loveliness.