Clash on Brexit migration rules

Minister says Scotland must share agreement reached for rest of UK

SCOTLAND will not receive any special power over migration in light of the Brexit vote as allowing separate controls would harm the integrity of the UK system, it was warned yesterday.

As Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues discuss with Whitehall their input into the UK Government’s Brexit process, the issue of migration and control over borders will be central to the outcome of the intergovernmental discussions.

A month after the EU referendum, the First Minister said in a keynote speech that avoiding limits on migration from Europe was crucial for Scotland; a “country that has an imperative to grow our population” to deal with a skills gap in its workforce and an ageing population.

The Scottish Government has noted how there were around 173,000 EU citizens in Scotland, “bringing new skills and expertise and in turn helping to underpin future productivity growth”.

But it warned imposing new restrictions on migrant workers could result in a rise in skills shortages and a fall in productivity north of the Border.

However, Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly stressed how the June 23 vote was a clear call from the British people that they want curbs on migration and she has told her cabinet that imposing fresh controls is a “red line” in the forthcoming talks with Brussels.

In response to a parliamentary question from the SNP’s Paul Monaghan, immigration minister Robert Goodwill ruled out exempting Scotland from the scope of the UK Government’s target to reduce annual net migration to below 100,000; it’s currently more than 300,000.

He said: “Our immigration system is designed to work for the whole of the UK and surveys show that people in Scotland want to see net migration reduced.”

Noting how there was a Scotland-specific shortage occupation list to accommodate skills shortages north of the Border, he added: “Applying substantially different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause confusion for applicants and difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.”

Mr Monaghan, who represents Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, said: “Our businesses rely very heavily on international migration in terms of skills and availability. The UK Government is not working for the benefit of Scotland on this because Scotland should be able to control immigration to ensure our economic needs are adequately met and planned for,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, the Whitehall department set up to deal with Brexit is recruiting 200 staff from the private sector to deal with the complex negotiations.

David Davis’ Department for Exiting the EU received 250 applications for 20 senior job vacancies.

‘‘ Our businesses rely very heavily on international migration in terms of skills and availability