Hansard

I have never disagreed with the UK Government taking any number of refugees. It had to be forced—grudgingly—into doing so by pressure from the public and stakeholders, but I welcome the decision nevertheless. However, it is foolish to say that we can take refugees only from the camps neighbouring Syria and turn a blind eye to those who cross the Aegean, many of whom drown or lose family members when they do so. We cannot ignore the fact that refugees are coming to Europe and just leave Europe to deal with them. We have a moral obligation to help them, but I think that we disagree on that point.

I return to the Immigration Bill. We believe that many of the proposals in the bill touch on devolved responsibilities, and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights, Alex Neil, has written to the UK Government four times to seek clarification and put on record our concerns about the bill.

Ken Macintosh spoke powerfully about the housing issue, as did other members, and it would be of great concern to us if private landlords—citizens who own property—were used, in effect, to plug the gaps in Government departments by doing the job that Home Office officials should be doing. That would have an impact not only on migrants, the vast majority of whom are here legally, but on UK citizens. I have heard Labour MPs and third sector organisations speak powerfully about the fact that even those who have what might be considered foreign-sounding names might be discriminated against by landlords who do not want the hassle, although those people might be UK citizens.

The Scottish Government will continue to voice its concerns forcefully. We believe that anything that the UK Government does in the Immigration Bill should involve consultation with not only the Scottish Government, important though that is, but Scottish stakeholders across the board.

My colleagues across the chamber have spoken about asylum. Jamie McGrigor said that everybody wants an immigration and asylum system that is fair, and I agree. However, the current asylum system is not fair. Dawn raids are not fair; detention of not only adults but children down south is not fair; giving asylum seekers a plastic card with £35 a week on it, which dehumanises them, is not fair; and not allowing asylum seekers to work is not fair. I do not think that the system that we have is fair and, if anything, the Immigration Bill will make it more unfair for asylum seekers and those who are looking to make a life here in Scotland or in the United Kingdom.

I do not think that the bill’s purpose is to improve the lives of immigrants and I agree with Sandra White and other members that the bill will make destitution more likely. Last week, along with Kezia Dugdale, I attended the Scottish Refugee Council’s annual general meeting, and many of the third sector organisations that were represented there spoke to me about what the Scottish Government could do to help those who will be made destitute because of the bill. I gave an open commitment to meet those organisations to discuss that.

It is clear to me—it has been confirmed by members’ speeches—that the Immigration Bill will not meet the needs of Scotland and will do nothing to protect vulnerable individuals. In fact, the bill will create a more hostile environment for the vulnerable, those who are without legal status and the many British citizens who will be subject to the bill’s wide-ranging powers.

We will continue to make the case to the UK Government that the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament must be consulted on the many areas of devolved responsibility on which the bill touches. I thank members for their insightful speeches and assure them that the Scottish Government will continue to oppose the damaging measures in the bill.