Many have taken early retirement, and Britain's exit from the EU has put more barriers in place for workers from the bloc, meaning gaps aren't able to be filled as easily.

It is no longer part of the largest trading bloc in the world, and it doesn't have the most educated or trained workforce.

The UK government says it remains absolutely committed to peace in Ukraine and that it's engaging with key allies After President Trump paused US military aid to the war-torn country a short while ago The EU Commission president outlined her plan to strengthen Europe's military capability Saying it would help the bloc get immediate military equipment to Ukraine An official in Washington explained President Trump's decision by saying the president's been clear that he's focused on peace We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well We're pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it's contributing to a solution Well since returning to the White House President Trump's claimed and on a number of occasions that the Biden administration gave Ukraine 350 billion dollars in military assistance BBC News has not been able to verify that figure Well, the US Department of Defense says the amount spent on military assistance to Ukraine in the three years since the Russian invasion Amounts to just over a hundred and eighty billion dollars President Trump's move come two days after that heated exchange between him and President Zelensky and Vice President Vance in the Oval Office Well speaking to Fox News before the military aid was paused Vice President Vance said the door is open if mr Zelensky is willing to talk peace mr. Vance also suggested that giving Washington an economic interest in the future of Ukraine would serve as a security guarantee If you want real security guarantees if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again The very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years the security guarantee and also the economic guarantee for Ukraine is to rebuild the country and Ensure that America has a long-term interest JD Vance there will Ukraine does produce some of its own weaponry But it does rely heavily on billions of dollars of aid from overseas allies such as America and Europe With more on all of that his BBC verifies Nick Hurdley What would a reduction in US support look like and could Europe step in to fill funding and equipment gaps?

The European bloc faces monumental challenges in the next five years.

The sanctions were blocked for two weeks by Slovakia, which refused to agree with fellow bloc members over concerns it jeopardised Russia's energy sources.

And we have also the right-wing bloc, which belongs to the biggest opposition parties, LDK and PDK, which got 45% of the votes in the last elections.

The governing bloc lost control of the more powerful lower house in October.

Everyone inside the union has to agree to apply a common tariff on goods from outside the bloc.

Any new UK rules for EU migrants could be tweaked in response to whatever policy the EU adopts for British citizens in the bloc.

...but entirely with how key the vote of the farming bloc is.