Anger over immigration sparks Scottish visa call

Farming, care and tourism sectors say they will be under threat from plans

Support for a separate Scottish visa system is mounting amid a furious backlash against Boris Johnson’s decision to radically restrict immigration from the EU.

Scottish industries such as farming and tourism, which have relied on EU labour, condemned the UK Government’s post-brexit points-based proposal, claiming it will threaten businesses and livelihoods.

NFU Scotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) went as far as throwing their weight behind an alternative proposal put forward by the Scottish Government for a “Scottish visa” system.

Nicola Sturgeon last month unveiled her vision of a “tailored” Scottish immigration system that would require the transfer of Westminster powers to Holyrood.

It would add a Scottish-specific visa, controlled from Holyrood, which new migrants could apply for.

MSPS would decide the criteria and the Scottish Government would receive and assess applications before sending them to the UK Government for security checks.

Applicants would have to stay in Scotland and pay tax north of the border. But they would have a route to permanent settlement – unlike existing schemes for unskilled or temporary workers.

The system was drawn up to respond to demand for workers in specific industries.

Mr Johnson branded it “fanciful” and “deranged”, claiming it would lead to border checks at Berwick.

However, NFU Scotland president Andrew Mccornick has said Scottish visas should be now be considered because the UK Government had ignored farmers’ pleas for a UK system that took account of their needs.

Mr Mccornick said the UK Government’s proposals did “not provide sufficient options” for non-uk workers to work in rural Scotland.

A similar call was made by the STA, which said the new points-based system was the “biggest threat” facing the tourism industry.

STA chief executive Marc Crothall said the prime minister’s plans would have a “profound impact”, particularly in rural areas.

And Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, claimed UK ministers were “in cloud cuckoo land” and was angered by the suggestion people working in the social care sector were “low-skilled”.

“What is low-skilled about a worker being with somebody at the end of their life, or somebody giving comfort with an individual with dementia?” Mr Macaskill asked.

Ms Sturgeon was withering in her assessment of the UK Government’s plans saying it was “impossible to overstate” the devastation they would cause for the Scottish economy.

The UK Government’s plan, which will end free movement and fail to give visas to migrants who lack qualifications or a job offer in a “high-skilled” profession, will start at the beginning of next year. EU immigrants would also have to demonstrate they can speak English adequately.