On Thursday, MSPs at Holyrood backed an SNP Government motion – and a Green amendment – calling for action on immigration to address “the needs of Scotland’s employers, communities and public services”.
Scotland’s rural areas have been disproportionately affected by post-Brexit immigration issues due to a reliance on EU workers in critical sectors like agriculture, care, and hospitality.
In an attempt to address those issues, the SNP Government in 2022 proposed a “targeted migration solution” in the form of a Rural Visa Pilot. However, immigration is reserved to Westminster and the then-Tory government refused to facilitate any action.
Ahead of the July General Election, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie claimed a Labour-run UK government would be open to “dialogue” on a bespoke Scottish visa scheme.
The Holyrood vote on Thursday saw MSPs call on Labour to “accept the Rural Visa Pilot proposal and to work directly and constructively with the Scottish Government to ensure that the needs of Scotland’s employers, communities and public services are fully reflected within the immigration system”.
Asked for a response to the call from the Scottish Parliament, the Home Office declined to say anything at all – despite Labour’s pledge to reset the relationship with the devolved parliaments.
It comes after Labour Government flatly refused to countenance a Scottish visa scheme in October despite a Scottish Labour MP claiming it was being looked at.
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The SNP’s Stephen Gethins, who has a member’s bill at Westminster which seeks to “amend the Scotland Act 1998 to grant legislative competence to the Scottish Parliament in respect of immigration”, said there had been little change between the Labour and Tory UK administrations on the issue.
“I have to say I’ve been very disappointed by the responses of the British government so far,” the MP and former international relations professor said.
“There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a difference between the way that the Conservatives deal with this issue and the way that Labour are dealing with these issues.
“It’s really disappointing that although we’ve seen a change in government from Conservatives to Labour, we’ve seen exactly the same attitude from Labour so far as we saw under the Tories.”
SNP MP Stephen Gethins has a member’s bill on immigration devolution (Image: BBC) However, he added: “That being said, I think you always have to be optimistic and you always have to try, and my private member’s bill provides a vehicle for Labour and the Conservatives to make good on the commitments that they’ve made, and to prove me wrong.”
In 2019, the Scottish Conservatives ran on a manifesto which pledged to bring in a points-based immigration system that worked for Scotland, “in particular, remote and rural communities”.
But, in power, the Tory-run UK government instead proposed plans which were seen as breaching that manifesto commitment.
Gethins said the “time has come for the Conservatives and Labour, not only to respect the will of the Scottish Parliament on the issue, but also to make good on the promises that they made to the Scottish electorate”.
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“Labour are very good on the rhetoric, but they’re in government and they have the powers to do something on this,” he went on.
“So my challenge to Labour colleagues is, are you going to do something about it? Or now that you’re in a position to do something is this where your commitment ends?
“Because it’s all very well talking about it, but now is the time for action.”
Gethins said he would be open to engagement on his member’s bill “from across the political spectrum” in order to find a way forward that “everybody can get behind”.
The Devolution (Immigration) (Scotland) Bill is due for a second reading at Westminster on April 25.