Tories’ toxic immigration policy dragging us down
poorer and worse off. Such a reduction in migration would seriously jeopardise the success of our economy.
We know May’s plan to end our freedom of movement rights – to live, work and study freely across 28 EU nations – will take opportunities away from Scottish people. But it will also prevent us from attracting the workers we need to grow our economy.
We also know that arbitrary UK Government plans to introduce a minimum salary threshold – preventing anyone earning less than £30,000 from being admitted to the UK – would be damaging for Scotland, where 63 per cent of workers earn less than that. These toxic Tory plans would make Scotland suffer,
TODAY marks a week since the new BBC Scotland channel launched.
With dedicated news output from a Scottish perspective, cultural scheduling and new content commissioned in Scotland – I’ve been impressed so far.
I hope the BBC will provide the support needed so it can deliver a service we can all be proud of.
sending our working-age population into decline, threatening tax revenues and causing serious staffing shortages in our NHS, care services and key sectors.
The UK Government’s policies do not even attempt to address our needs and May’s troubling obsession with reducing immigration, whatever the cost, will damage communities across Scotland.
As former Tory MP Anna Soubry put it, May “has a problem with immigration”, which has followed her through her career. While Labour should have joined the SNP in challenging the racism that has blighted Westminster’s approach to immigration, it has too often fallen in line with the Tories and UKIP – from Gordon Brown echoing the BNP on “British jobs for British workers”, to Ed Miliband’s “controls on immigration” mugs, to Jeremy Corbyn’s support for Tory plans to end freedom of movement.
I am proud Scotland has a radically different and welcoming approach to immigration. We recognise our country has been built on the contribution migrants have made to Scottish society over the centuries. We know that without immigration, we face population decline.
It is one of the many reasons Scotland needs independence – so we can build a system of migration that meets our needs and values. With Westminster proving it is incapable of acting in our interests, it is clearer by the day that Scotland must take control of its own future.