Immigration needs to go down, Sarwar and Ross say

Immigration to the UK must fall, according to Scottish Labor and Scottish Conservative leaders.

During an appearance on BBC Scotland Sunday ShowLabor’s Anas Sarwar and the Conservatives’ Douglas Ross acknowledged the importance of the issue.

Mr Sarwar said there was a “fundamental breakdown between the skills system and the migration system”.

And Mr Ross said there was a big problem with the migration of records to the UK.

During the election campaign, the leaders of Scotland’s main political parties have appeared on the programme.

Mr Sarwar said net migration in the UK was very high, and there was a huge asylum backlog.

However, he believes that different parts of the UK have different migration needs.

Scottish party leaders have called for the migration system to take into account the skills gap in the workforce, saying there is a “breakdown” between the two systems.

Scotland’s existing workforce should be enhanced, he said, “rather than losing opportunities and relying on cheaper migration”.

Mr Sarwar continued: “We need to have a migration system that meets the skills needs and where the skills gaps are, and use investment to create the skills we need at home.

“I don’t think we’re going to get the balance right, right now.”

Mr. Sarwar acknowledged that the needs of migrants vary depending on the region of the country and the sector.

Looking at the health and social sector, he said workers in social care were “disproportionately” from migrant backgrounds.

Mr Sarwar said health and social care was a priority for Scotland today, but “there are people who pay more to work in a supermarket than to work in our care sector”. He said this is unacceptable.

British Labor leader Keir Starmer before the Sunday Show: “We are recruiting too many people from overseas” in the health service and he “wants to see the numbers go down in some areas”.

Scottish Conservative leader Mr Ross was asked whether Scotland needed migrants to boost its workforce, and replied that despite “record numbers” of legal migrants coming to the UK, people were not “attracted” to Scotland.

Immigration policy is decided by the UK government at Westminster, but Mr Ross said the Scottish SNP government at Holyrood should use its powers to make Scotland a better place for people.

He said: “We can do so much with the powers we have in Scotland when we don’t have a government that is obsessed with independence.

“We can make sure our public services in Scotland deliver for people.”

When asked if he still supported the British Conservative government’s plan to send “illegal” asylum seekers entering the UK from “safe” countries to Rwanda while their claims were processed, Mr Ross said the scheme was a deterrent.

Mr Ross said the policy was “putting people off” from crossing the English Channel.

He said: “The scheme is now operational.

“We must ensure that we have become as difficult as possible for illegal people traffickers focused on the vulnerable seeking to cross the Channel.”

The SNP says it wants to see a migration system created for Scotland that respects those who decide to live, work, study and invest here.

The party also called for an end to the “demonisation of migrants”.

The party said immigrants should not be blocked from claiming benefits and plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda should be scrapped.

According to the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the “hostile environment” against immigrants must end, and the Rwandan plan must be shelved – calling it a “catastrophic waste of money”.

However, money should be invested in clearing the asylum backlog.