We must escape Boris’ Britain
This Friday at 11pm Scotland will be dragged out of the EU.
Every UK national who doesn’t have dual citizenship with an EU Member State will be losing their EU citizenship.
Boris Johnson and the Tories want to make a celebration of this, but I can’t see a single thing to celebrate in it.
Brexit is an incredible act of economic self-sabotage and an own goal of epic proportions.
That’s why it’s crucial that the people of Scotland, and indeed the people of Renfrewshire who also didn’t vote for Brexit, get the change to choose a different path.
A prosperous, outward-looking, European country is what we can be, if we choose to escape insular Brexit Boris Britain.
It’s not just about Brexit and independence this week in the UK and Scottish Parliaments, though.
This week, the Scottish government delivered a detailed 94-page document to the UK government that discussed why it is crucial for Scotland to be able to make decisions about immigration for ourselves.
To be clear, the paper didn’t call for all immigration matters to be in control of the Scottish Parliament – although, of course, that’s what I would like to see.
The paper called for a Scottish Visa that would sit alongside the other visas that the UK government plan to offer after Brexit.
Why do we need that? Well, our immigration needs are fundamentally different to that of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Immigration is a policy area that really can’t be effectively dealt with in a one-size-fits-all manner.
Our NHS relies heavily on EU immigration for staffing.
The global population is ageing, which has naturally lead to an increase on demand of health services.
That trend continues, and it’s why it’s so crucial that Scotland have the ability to tailor our immigration offering.
But it isn’t just the NHS, it’s the thriving technology and science sectors, it’s the seasonal positions that need to be filled in the highlands during the tourist season and so much more.
So, if you delivered a 94-page, well thought out, detailed report to the UK government for them to consider, how long do you think it would take them to read it?
How much time would they need to go through the detail, see where the good ideas are and the not so good ideas? How much time would it take to consider the workability of the proposals?
A least a couple of weeks, right?
You’d need to get some experts to read it, report to the Minister, discuss the politics of it and get approval from the higher ups in Number 10.
Two or three weeks if you rushed it is what you might expect. In this case?
The Government cast aside the whole thing after just a couple of hours – clearly not bothering to read it.
That’s what the Tories think of the needs of Scotland and our economy and our jobs and prosperity. They just don’t care.
Turning towards the constituency, I just wanted to quickly mention that with January being a five-week month, there’s a bit of a gap between now and my next constituency surgeries.
That doesn’t mean you can’t get in touch, though.
If you need anything, call my office on 0141 571 4370, or drop me an email at mhairi.black.mp@parliament.uk.
You can always drop by the office in Wellmeadow Street too if you prefer.