Brexit, woof. Not to call the kettle blackโ€”my country elected a racist Halloween-themed Staypuff Marshmallow Man presidentโ€”but it could be argued that Britain leaving the European Union was a bit, well, let’s say shortsighted. And itโ€™s going to affect how the country gets caffeinated. More than raising the price of a cup of coffee, Brexit is expected to cause a labor shortage in cafes and restaurants, both often staffed by EU nationals.

To combat this, Britain is looking to offer โ€œBarista Visas.โ€ These short-term work permits allow non-Brits to work in the โ€œlow-skilled sector,โ€ but asย Timeย reports, the measure is being โ€œroundly criticized for not going far enough.โ€

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The Barista Visa was proposed by Migration Watch UK, a right-wing think tank, whose chairman Andrew Green believes will โ€œkill two birds with one stoneโ€ by โ€œmeet[ing] the needs of pubs and restaurants and maintain[ing] [Britainโ€™s] links with young Europeans by allowing them to come for a strictly limited period of two years to work.”

Critics of the measure believe it doesnโ€™t properly incentivize EU nationals to move to Britain because there is no hope becoming a permanent resident. As Stephen Bush puts it in the New Statesman:

Itโ€™s not a particularly attractive offer, is it? Come to Britain to work in a coffee shop. If you get promoted? You canโ€™t stay. If you fall in love? You canโ€™t stay. If you set up a new business or establish yourself as a writer while working at a coffee shop? You canโ€™t stay.

The Barista Visa is still just a proposal, so whoโ€™s to say if Britain will double down on the myopia. All I know is, with this impending barista shortage, if I were a fair citizen of Blighty, Iโ€™d open up a home coffee supply shop now.

Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.

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