THE SNP’s Alyn Smith has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel after UK Government figures revealed a 671% increase in the number of EU nationals refused entry into the UK in the first quarter of this year compared to last.

The SNP spokesperson for foreign affairs has expressed his concerns over how the UK’s border system is being used following Brexit.

According to figures published by the UK Government, 490 EU nationals were refused entry at the border in Q1 of last year.

In the same time period this year, however, that figure had skyrocketed to 3287.

Under post-Brexit rules, EU citizens should be permitted to enter the UK for short stays without the need for a visa.

In his letter to the Home Secretary, the MP wrote: “Whilst I understand that the rules at the border have changed since the end of the transition period, this sharp rise is very worrying and will damage both the labour market and looking to the future tourism.

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“It is also worrying that there have been reports of EU citizens being held in detention for a number of days before being sent home.”

He enquired: “What additional training has been given to staff at the border to ensure that the new rules are enforced fairly?

“What assurances can you give to those travelling into the country from Europe that they will not be held in captivity for honest mistakes?”

Smith commented: “The size of the increase in the number of people being turned away from the UK is staggering and rings immediate alarm bells.

“It’s crucial we find out more about what the circumstances are for these refusals in order to determine what trends there are in the system.

“The Government must be held accountable for this, and it would be rightly met with outrage if EU citizens were on the receiving end of mismanagement of the UK’s border system following the UK’s official removal from the EU freedom of movement on December 31 last year.

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“What is even more alarming about this is the first three months of this year had far fewer flights arriving into the UK than the first three months of last year due to the pandemic, yet nearly seven times the number of EU nationals have been turned away.

He added: “I represent a constituency that relies on folk coming from all over to soak up our natural and historical heritage.

“If getting into the UK is being made harder for people from neighbouring European countries, then this is a problem – particularly as we need to think seriously about economic growth in Covid

recovery.

“Brexit has been a sorry affair of broken promises and bluster from the government.”

He added: “If the Tories really want to champion ‘Global Britain’, they’ll drop their small-minded, isolationist agenda.”