JEREMY CORBYN is now “very open” to Scotland having its own powers over immigration, something the Labour leader had previously opposed, in a move that will heap pressure on the issue to be devolved.
As Mr Corbyn continued his summer campaign tour of Scotland, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale suggested he had changed his mind on the issue of immigration powers being devolved to Holyrood.
Prime Minister Theresa May is already under pressure to concede to devolving power over immigration to Scotland as pro-EU campaigners warned a large fall in net migration was evidence a “Brexodus” was taking place in Britain.
Westminster’s all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on social integration claimed the poisonous tone of the European Union referendum campaign had fuelled the “demonisation” of immigrants and it renewed its call for the UK’s nations and regions to have “substantive immigration policy powers” to create a “regionally-led immigration system”.
In January, when he was asked if Scotland and other areas of the UK could have their own immigration policies after Brexit, Mr Corbyn warned such a move would be “very difficult” to implement as it would need “regional borders”.
He added: “I have heard the argument in England as well and in the case of Scotland I would say exactly the same; it has to be a UK-wide decision.”
But yesterday Ms Dugdale, said: “I have had a different experience of what he has had to say in the past about immigration; he is very open to that mindset.”
Asked again if Mr Corbyn was open to Scotland having different immigration levels to the rest of the UK, the Lothian MSP added: “Just as he is around employment law. That’s another conversation we have had. I would very much like to see the powers on employment law reside at the Scottish Parliament.”
The Office for National Statistics said net migration was at 246,000 in the year to the end of March, a fall of 81,000 compared with the previous 12 months.
More than half of the change was accounted for by a 51,000 decrease in the net migration number for EU citizens. Emigration of EU citizens increased by 33,000 year-on-year to 122,000; the highest outflow for nearly 10 years. There was a particularly sharp rise, of 17,000, in departures of citizens from the so-called EU8 countries which joined the union in 2004 such as the Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary. At the same time, there was a 19,000 decrease in immigration from the EU. Business leaders said no-one should celebrate the fall in migration numbers, suggesting that the “brain drain” of EU staff was already happening. The SNP repeated its call for the Prime Minister to devolve power over migration to Holyrood amid fears of labour shortages. The APPG said in a report: “Reforming our immigration system to include an element of regionalised decision-making would result in a system which would better reflect and serve … our country’s diverse regions and communities.”
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