– in the Scottish Parliament at on 16 November 2023.
Keith Brown
Scottish National Party
7. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of United Kingdom Government migration policy on Scotland’s economy and workforce. (S6O-02742)
Neil Gray
Scottish National Party
The UK Government’s immigration system does not meet Scotland’s distinctive needs, as Scotland’s population story differs from that of other parts of the UK. All sectors of the Scottish economy are experiencing labour shortages as a direct consequence of Brexit and the ending of free movement across Europe.
The national strategy for economic transformation’s skilled workforce programme sets out the actions that we are taking to work with employers to address labour and skills gaps. Our recently published paper “Migration to Scotland after independence” sets out proposals to introduce a welcoming immigration system that will increase our working-age population and address our skills shortages.
Keith Brown
Scottish National Party
The Cabinet secretary may know that, at a recent meeting of the Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, Professor Pacquin of the national school of public administration in Quebec confirmed that arrangements in Canada allow the National Assembly of Quebec to make decisions about economic immigration that meet Quebec’s specific needs, and that that has produced substantial economic benefits for Quebec and for Canada.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that if the Scottish Parliament had similar powers, that would allow us to address the issues that we face under current UK Government policy, such as the declining population and skills shortages that the cabinet secretary mentioned, and that, in the absence of reform of the immigration system, only independence offers us the opportunity to fully implement our own distinct system tailored to the needs of the people of Scotland?
Neil Gray
Scottish National Party
Absolutely—yes. Keith Brown makes a very salient point. This Government has consistently argued for the devolution of migration powers to the Scottish Parliament. The UK Government has blatantly ignored that. Its immigration system is not designed to meet our needs and it is having a damaging effect on Scotland’s economy and communities.
Scotland has distinctive needs. Our population story differs from that of the rest of the UK. I agree that it is only through independence and having full powers on migration that Scotland can have the opportunity to devise a humane, principled approach to migration that is needs based and that delivers positive outcomes for our communities, public services and the economy, rather than one that tries to send people to Rwanda, contrary to the view of the courts.
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
That concludes general Question Time. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.
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