SCOTLAND is sitting on something of a demographic time bomb. Among the factors affecting this are our ageing population, a lower life expectancy than many comparable countries, lower fertility rates and continuing emigration.
An equally significant factor has been lower levels of inward migration, an issue the Scottish Government has placed great emphasis on tackling. This has not been an easy task, given that immigration is a reserved matter and the post-EU referendum focus of the UK Government has been on cracking down upon it.
There is much food for thought, then, in the findings of a new report by the UK’s leading progressive think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Taking the north east of England as a case study, it looks at how the immigration system could be responsive to regional needs.
The report calls for a model that focuses on local labour market shortages after Brexit. This would allow areas to prioritise roles such as engineering or science according to the needs of their economies. The IPPR report confirms that a serious overhaul of the immigration system, moving away from the UK Government’s “one-size-fits-all” scheme, has a lot going for it.
The UK has very different labour markets in different areas and introducing a regional component to the immigration system would reflect that reality. Such measures, especially following the Brexit vote, are something Scotland would stand to gain from. Different immigration policies on each side of the Border pose challenges but that does not mean it is not possible, Russell Gunson, director of IPPR Scotland, is correct in his assertion that the time has come to explore opportunities for this country and for other parts of the UK rather than prematurely close them off. There are, he says, other factors worth considering in such an approach, in that it could also open up the possibilities of closer relationships with Europe for some parts of the UK compared to others.
What this boils down to, of course, is the response of Prime Minister Theresa May, who is under such pressure from Brexiters to take a hard line on immigration. Previously, Nicola Sturgeon’s key demand for immigration to be devolved as part of the Brexit process has been firmly rejected by the UK Government.
If Mrs May is genuine about recognising Scotland’s devolved administration, then the time has come for the immigration issue to be taken into account. As Dr Alasdair Allan, Scotland’s Minister for International Development and Europe has pointed out, Westminster policies attempting to drive down migration penalise Scottish businesses for employing the skilled migrants they need.
Mrs May and her ministers must understand that Scotland’s economic prosperity should not be sacrificed to political and ideological concerns south of the Border and that every pragmatic solution must be explored. Scotland needs to attract the skilled people our economy increasingly relies upon. The latest IPPR report provides part of the template as to how that can be done. For that reason alone it merits serious consideration.
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