We need migrants..but try telling the public, Nic
IMMIGRANT bashing is the strategy of choice for populist politicians who want to get ahead.
Think Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall to keep out Mexican “rapists” or Nigel Farage’s “Breaking Point” poster demonising refugees.
The shock results in both the Brexit referendum and the US presidential election were partially secured by a despicable stoking of racism.
And while those examples are extreme, it’s also the case that mainstream British politicians have been unwilling to give full-throated support to immigration for years.
Even Ed Miliband, a left-wing leader by any measure, presided over a Labour Party that gave out mugs emblazoned with the message “Control Over Immigration”.
The vast majority of elected politicians from all parties know immigration is vital for future economic prosperity but are too afraid to say so.
The reason for this spinelessness is pretty obvious – poll after poll has shown the public want the numbers reduced.
On this, Scotland is no different to the rest of the UK.
Research by the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey in 2014 found 49 per cent of voters north of the border want immigration reduced and only nine per cent want it increased.
Scots may not be as obsessed with immigration as the English but we’re almost equally hostile.
Which makes the new case for independence that Nicola Sturgeon is slowly carving out all the more intriguing.
On her trip to the US this week, she confirmed one of the benefits she
expects from leaving the UK is
UNBRIDLED excitement at Holyrood yesterday as it was announced Barack Obama is to visit Edinburgh next month.
The former US president will be guest of honour at a charity dinner hosted by businessman Sir Tom Hunter.
For the Scottish political elite, it was the equivalent of teenage girls hearing Justin Bieber was going to be in town.
Obama is so popular the SNP forgave him for backing No in the first independence referendum.
Perhaps he can referee round two...
the ability to INCREASE immigration.
She told an audience at Stanford University: “Scotland benefits hugely from the contribution made by people who come to Scotland to work or study – from the rest of the UK, from the European Union and, of course, from the USA.
“And historically, our level of population growth has been lower than the rest of the UK’s. We would actually like to see more immigration into Scotland.”
Sturgeon’s position is driven by the pressing need to make a better economic case for independence.
An ageing population means an indy Scotland would desperately need to import people of working age to pay the taxes needed to fund pensions. With a £15billion deficit to close, the SNP growth commission are almost certain to recommend increasing skilled migrant numbers to boost the economy.
A cynic could also suggest the first minister has her eye on the votes of the 180,000 EU nationals living in Scotland that largely voted No in the last indyref.
Nevertheless, Sturgeon must be the only political leader in the developed world planning to launch a populist campaign based on increasing immigration.
All the evidence says keeping freedom of movement will be an extremely challenging platform to win an independence referendum on.
But it’s refreshing to see a prominent politician finally making a principled case for the benefits of immigration.