25-04-2025
Labour blocks bid to allow SNP Government to bring in more foreign workers
Labour has blocked a bid to allow the SNP Government to bring in more foreign workers. The SNP accused Labour of running down the clock to stop a vote from taking place on devolving immigration powers. Gethins said that letting the Scottish Government bring in more foreign workers would help "offset Brexit" He said the current system is failing social care in Scotland because we cannot hire enough workers . The Arbroath and Broughty Ferry MP wants a separate Scottish visa to attract more people north of the border. The idea has been supported by some people in Scottish Labour. Gethins said: 'This Bill today is a way of offsetting some of the damage that's been done by a hostile environment, by Brexit – which I'm astonished daily that the Scottish Labour Party continue to endorse – and let me talk about the Scottish care system, the current UK immigration system. 'All of us will benefit from the care system at some point – all of us. And we'll all have loved ones to have benefited, so I think their voice is a particularly pertinent one. 'The current UK immigration system is failing the social care sector in Scotland. 'The recent rule changes, particularly the ban on dependents which has had a big impact on other sectors as well, and the incompatible increase in the minimum salary threshold, exacerbate existing recruitment challenges and pose significant risks to the sustainability in delivery of the care services.' Gethins' Bill would remove immigration from schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, which lists 'reserved matters' still under Westminster control. But when Labour Scottish Secretary Ian Murray pointed out to him that the 'Bill is a simple, one-line Bill that says to devolve the entire immigration system to Scotland,' Gethins admitted 'this is not ideal" and said he was 'very open to this being amended'. Murray also urged Gethins to be clear with the House', adding: 'If this Bill passes, it will merely remove immigration from schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, which would devolve immigration to the Scottish Government – yes or no?' Gethins said the Bill was about 'coming together, talking to each other'. Scottish Labour MP John Grady was slapped down by the UK Government last year when he claimed work was underway to create a separate Scottish immigration visa . To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here
