Meeting of the Parliament 17 June 2014
My argument is that we can achieve some of what we are talking about through devolution. I think that that is also Jack McConnell’s argument. As far as I can see, the problem for an independent Scotland is that, if it had a very different asylum and immigration policy from that in the rest of the UK, and if there was a more right-wing UK Government—one that might involve the UK Independence Party—Scotland could be seen to be a back door into the rest of the UK, and the rest of the UK could set up border controls. That worries me. We need to look more widely at the issue. Political instability, war, climate change and natural disasters are forcing people out of their own lands across the globe, and I think that we need an international response to the issue of asylum seekers, rather than having a response as a small nation.
I want to touch on public attitudes to asylum and immigration. Sometimes, we are a little complacent about views in Scotland. I was shocked when more than 13 per cent of the voters in Dumfries and Galloway voted for UKIP. I believe that the average UKIP vote across the south of Scotland was 11 per cent. If that were replicated in 2016—I hope that it will not be—it could mean that we had people from UKIP in this Parliament.
I heard what Bob Doris said about social attitudes, but a recent social attitudes survey said that 60 per cent of Scottish residents thought that immigration should be reduced. It worries me that those views still exist.
I am supportive of the Government’s motion today, but I think that there is a lot more that we can and must do to counter the negative stories that are perpetrated by certain sections of the national media. We all know who they are. They are poisonous, and we should all be doing what we can to counteract the view of asylum seekers that they are promulgating.
16:24