Desperate British pig farmers tell Johnson: Ease immigration rules

A group of breeding sows are pictured inside a barn on a family pig farm near Driffield, Britain, October 12, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Phil Noble

DRIFFIELD, England (Reuters) - Two sisters running a pig farm in northeast England have a message for Prime Minister Boris Johnson: lift strict immigration rules for butchers or risk seeing the pork sector collapse under the weight of overly fattened animals.

Farmers across Britain say a combination of Brexit and COVID-19 have sparked an exodus of east European workers from abattoirs and meat processors, leaving pigs to back up in barns and fields across the country.