JACKSON Carlaw has belittled the UK Government’s controversial immigration plans as a “work in progress”, in a clear sign of a cross-border Tory split.
“We need a migration system appropriate to Scotland’s needs and our demographics and economy,” the Scottish Tory leader said, challenging the uniform UK-wide plan put forward by Home Secretary Priti Patel this week.
It followed business leaders across Scotland warning the change to a post-Brexit points system in 2021 would dramatically shrink the pool of available workers.
The care home, farming, fishing and hospitality sectors all warned it would harm them, particularly in rural areas which already struggle with labour shortages.
Nicola Sturgeon also said it would have a devastating impact on the wider economy, given Scotland’s reliance on inward migration to maintain its working age taxbase.
The First Minister last month proposed creating a Scottish visa as an alternative to a UK-wide system, but the Home Office dismissed it out of hand.
Amid reports the Scottish Tories are furious about the issue, and the headache it creates for them, Mr Carlaw was confronted by the media after First Minister’s Questions.
He said he had been talking to UK ministers over the last 48 hours and wanted to discuss with Boris Johnson.
He said: “It’s a work in progress and I very much hope and intend that we will have a migration process, in the final analysis and detail which is appropriate to Scotland.”
Asked if the UK system was wrong, he said: “I don’t think what’s being proposed by UK ministers actually has been properly understood in all its detail.
“Let’s just, over the next few days, wait and see what becomes available.
“I am in ongoing discussions with UK ministers. I hope to see the Prime Minister when I’m in London shortly and I expect we will have a migration system which is appropriate to Scotland’s needs.”
Asked about the SNP’s suggestion of a Scottish visa, he said: “The answer is to have a migration system which is appropriate to Scotland’s needs.
“I think we are still digesting the Scottish Government’s paper as well, which we actually as Scottish Conservatives believe had quite a sensible analysis of the situation and there were some sensible suggestions made in that too.
Suggesting the Scottish Tories might break a general election manifesto commitment unless there were changes, he said: “We made a specific promise that we need a migration system appropriate to Scotland’s needs and our demographics and economy.
"The Scottish Conservatives remain committed to that.
"It’s a work in progress. Let’s see how it unfolds.”
It followed Ms Sturgeon renewing her criticism of the plans at FMQs.
She told MSPs: "The proposals on immigration... are wrong in principle.
"They brand as low-skilled people who care for us in our care homes and hospitals, farm our land, process our fish, build our houses and look after our tourists in our restaurants and hotels, and imply that those people are not welcome here.
"That is shocking and shameful, and it should be opposed. The UK Government’s proposals are also devastating for the future of our economy.
"Our demographics mean that we need to continue to attract people here, and those proposals will make it much harder. The proposals will make Scotland poorer in future.
"They are the biggest risk to our economic prosperity that we face."
She also said the plans were a test for Mr Carlaw and his party.
"Rather than being quietly livid, should the Scottish Tories not be standing up for Scotland and doing something about it?" she said.
The First Minister’s official spokesman later said Mr Carlaw's comments the suggested the UK Tories treated their Scottish party with even less respect than they showed the Scottish Government.
He said: “I think what the last day or two has shown on this policy issue is how utterly Jackson Carlaw and the Scottish Tories are.
“Not only does Boris Johnson’s government treat the Scottish Government with contempt, they treat their own Scottish Tory colleagues with utter contempt.
“That just lays bare the depth of contempt in which they are held by their Westminster colleagues.
“If there are indeed further proposals to come, which might go some way towards some of the things that we have called for, we’d be happy to see them and we’ll judge them on their merits.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel