BORIS Johnson has dismissed the Scottish Government’s plans for a separate visa system as “absolutely fanciful and deranged”.
The Tory leader was asked about the SNP proposals during yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions by Ian Blackford.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the policy for a differentiated system on Monday morning.
It would see a Scottish migration system diverging from the rest of the UK with migrants applying separately to the Scottish Government for a cheaper, simpler visa to live only in Scotland.
READ MORE: Ex-Tory MP urges Westminster to work with Holyrood on visa plan
Blackford told MPs: “Before the ink was even dry, these proposals were rejected without consideration. Since the PM would never reject a proposal before reading it can he tell the House on what points he disagrees with Model Three [the shared responsibility proposal]; if it helps it was outlined on page 20 of the proposal.”
Johnson said he had “every sympathy” with Scottish industries and businesses. He argued that his government had, at the behest of lobbying from Scottish Tory MPs, doubled the number of workers allowed under a seasonal scheme.
“But the idea of having a Scottish-only visa, with a border at Berwick, a wall and inspection posts is absolutely fanciful and deranged.
“Whatever may be on page 20 of the right honourable Member’s document, I doubt that he explains who would pay for it.”
WATCH: Boris Johnson hypocrisy exposed over Scottish visa plan
Blackford said that nobody was suggesting such a thing, and that that the Prime Minister did “not have a clue”.
He added: “Unlike the Prime Minister, experts have backed the Scottish Government’s proposals. The Scottish Trades Union Congress supports them. The Federation of Small Businesses supports them.”
Blackford said Scotland had been told during the 2014 referendum that “we would have the most powerful devolved Parliament in the world. We were told we would be an equal partner in the family of nations. Will the Prime Minister now read the Scottish Government’s proposal, listen to the evidence, and deliver a tailored migration policy for Scotland?”
The Prime Minister said: “The way to boost the population of Scotland is not to have a Scottish Government who tax the population to oblivion and who fail to deliver results in their schools.”
He also accused the SNP of being obsessed with flags.
Celtic Connections warning
DONALD Shaw, the director of Celtic Connections, has warned that the number of international artists coming to the UK is dwindling because they are being “treated with suspicion” by the Home Office, “as if they’re coming here with ulterior motives”.
Glasgow North MP Patrick Grady raised the issues in the Commons yesterday, asking the Prime Minister to give a message to artists that want to “come here and share their talents but are put off by an over complicated, extortionate application process that signals they’re not welcome?”
The Prime Minister told the SNP politician he was “surprised that the director of the festival that he refers to is encountering any difficulties”.
Shaw told The National: “The fact is that the artists that we’re trying to entice have to go through this process.”
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