A day of action, called "One Day Without Us," is being planned for February, according to Mark Souster of the LONDON TIMES. The event aims to show how without migrant workers many areas of the U.K. "would simply grind to a halt." All this has "potentially huge ramifications for the racing industry," which relies increasingly on non-British stable staff to fill "yawning gaps in the ranks." Of the 6,671 stable staff who are members of the National Association of Stable Staff, "about a third are from Europe or further afield." The split within that figure is "roughly 50-50." As NASS CEO George McGrath says, "any diminution of numbers and in a worst-case scenario a blanket ban," would be "devastating." He is concerned that "the people most at risk do not appreciate that their way of life could be under threat." Non-European workers who can ride "are no longer classed as skilled under Home Office rules which have been tightened." McGrath said that "the Asian door has all but been closed." That "the industry on the shop floor faces a crisis is beyond argument." At the last count there were 500 vacancies. There is "the stirrings of an industry-wide approach to improve conditions and pay to build up the British pipeline of workers." As the British Horseracing Authority recognizes, skilled work riders from abroad "have been an important part of racing’s staff for a number of years," but racing cannot rely on int'l workers (LONDON TIMES, 10/20).