EXTERNAL Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson will press the UK’s immigration minister on labour shortages impacting Scotland at a meeting today.
Robertson will stress to Kevin Foster the need for urgent action to increase the workforce, including a 24-month “temporary worker route”.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Robertson said: “There could not be a more urgent time to reconvene the population taskforce – we can see how the impact of Brexit and the inadequate UK immigration system is causing damage in our economy and society.
“I will be impressing on the UK Government’s minister for immigration today that time is of the essence, and the changes we request need to be put into place now.”
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Robertson said Brexit “has contributed to the problems”, which have caused food shortages in some supermarkets due to a lack of delivery drivers.
He added: “Any suggestion that such migration depressed wages is disappointing and inaccurate – in fact, analysis of the impact of European migration on the UK labour market by the UK Government’s own migration advisory committee found that immigration was not a major factor in wage growth.
“Freedom of movement was a benefit for our economy and our society – and its removal has contributed to the issues that now need an urgent response, not sudden UK Government policy switches used as temporary sticking plasters.
“Scotland has its own distinct immigration requirements, which are different from the rest of the UK, as all of our future population growth is projected to come from inward migration.
“That is just one reason the UK Government’s hard Brexit will be so damaging to Scotland, and why measures such as the opening of a 24-month temporary worker route should be implemented immediately.”
Earlier, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said labour shortages which are crippling key industries cannot be properly combated in Scotland while immigration laws remain reserved to Westminster.
Several sectors have been hit by the shortages in recent months, in part due to the pandemic but made much more severe in Britain due to Brexit.
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The Finance Secretary says the most important actions to counter the issues – which have resulted in empty supermarket shelves, a fuel crisis and a potential mass cull of pigs – lie with the UK Government.
Forbes commented: “What I would strongly emphasise is that I don’t believe that shortages and challenges can in any way be resolved through the Scottish Government’s budget alone.
“We have a role to play, we will play that role and we take that responsibility seriously, but when it comes to labour market shortages it’s well documented that the
acute shortages we are facing right now are largely to do with immigration policy, over which we have no control.”
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