Racist Tory policies show why Scotland must have power over migration
Tory plans to hike the salary threshold and bring in further restrictions on migration have been slammed by the Scottish Greens justice spokesperson, Maggie Chapman.
Ms Chapman has branded the proposals “cruel, racist and ineffective” and said that they make clear why Scotland must have control over migration.
Ms Chapman said: “Whenever we think the Tories have hit peak cruelty they always find a way to make it even worse. These proposals are cruel and racist, and are far more to do with the PM trying to keep the peace with his reactionary backbenchers than anything else.
“And, as well as being deeply unfair and unethical, these plans will have a devastating impact on the services that we all rely on which in many cases are already badly under-resourced. Immigrants, especially those targeted by these proposals, often come here to do jobs in sectors like caring that are both essential and difficult to recruit for in the UK.
“These proposals aren't even designed to work. They are designed to spread further fear and anxiety and to scapegoat migrant communities for the many failures of this incompetent government.
“It makes clear why Scotland must have control over migration. We can build a welcoming and humane system that sees the value in people who make their homes and their lives here and invests in them rather than punishing them.
“Anyone who thought that Suella Braverman’s resignation may have brought forward a more liberal approach to migration was badly mistaken. The authoritarianism and bigotry that she represented goes right to the heart of this Tory government and all that it stands for.
“It’s not just these policies that need to be stopped, it’s the whole mindset and the hostile environment that successive Tory and Labour governments have done so much to build.
“They have used migration as a distraction. Rather than building a more equal society they have chosen to scapegoat and punish vulnerable people and minority groups.
“People are right to feel that they are not getting their fair share of the country’s wealth. But the problem is not immigrants. The problem is billionaires who have seen their wealth rise at everyone else's expense and a Tory government that has enabled this while imposing cuts and austerity on the rest of us.
“Attacking immigrants is the political equivalent of bleeding with leeches: a remedy that just makes things worse. As we have seen, the last 13 years of obsession with immigration has fixed precisely none of the problems that we were told these increasingly authoritarian measures would address.
“This will also be a big test for the opposition. Will Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour colleagues pledge to reverse these disgraceful plans, or will they do what they always do and parrot the same Tory policies that are causing so much damage?”
