Alex
Salmond’s independence blueprint aims to attract thousands more
immigrants, who could use Scotland as a back door to England.
The
Scottish National Party say they would ’celebrate’ more people arriving
from overseas, reversing what they claim is years of ’depopulation’.
Mr
Salmond says Scotland needs an extra 24,000 immigrants a year to fill
jobs and bankroll the welfare system for ageing Scots, but without tough
border controls many could use it as an easy route into England and
Wales.
Data
from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that over the
long term Scotland can expect net migration of only 15,500 a year, on
current trends.
But
Mr Salmond’s target of 24,000 means he will have to attract an extra
9,500-a-year, or 190,000 over two decades, by adopting different
immigration rules to the rest of the UK.
Mr Salmond has admitted the thousands of extra foreign workers are needed to fund the state pension in Scotland.
The
ratio between pensioners and workers is far worse in Scotland than in
the UK as a whole, meaning the cost of funding pensions is borne by
fewer people.
Pete
Wishart, the SNP’s home affairs spokesman, wrote on the party's
website: ’We plan a controlled points-based system to support the
migration of skilled workers for the benefit of Scotland’s economy.
’An independent Scotland will have an inclusive approach to citizenship and a humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees.’
He
complained about ’anti-immigrant rhetoric’ and claimed Scotland
currently has to ’lump inappropriate Westminster immigration laws, and
we are constantly told that they must become even more restrictive to
protect us from the various ‘floods’ of ‘foreigners’ who are to erode
our way of life’.
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He
added: ’In Scotland, when we see an increase in our population given our
history of depopulation, we celebrate the good news. At Westminster it
couldn’t make the politicians more miserable.’
The
SNP hopes for an independent Scotland to join Common Travel Area (CTA)
which dates back to the 1920s and allows free movement between the UK,
Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
The
official white paper for independence states: 'We plan to remain part
of the CTA which means that there will be no border controls, and you
will not need a passport to travel to other parts of the UK, Ireland,
the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.'
An illegal migrant tries to step into a
truck going to the UK in the French port of Calais. David Cameron wants
to see migration cut - but Alex Salmond insists Scotland needs more
labour from abroad
An independent Scotland operating an
open border migration strategy would jeopardise an English government's
attempt to curb the number of migrants settling
However,
Mr Salmond also wants to have a more relaxed immigration policy than
that adopted by Westminster, raising the prospect of Scotland being used
as a back door route into the UK.
The
SNP plans to lower the current financial maintenance thresholds and
minimum salary levels for entry to Scotland, and to reintroduce a
'post-study work visa'.
It means it would effectively have a more open immigration policy than the rest of the UK, requiring controls at the border.
The Prime Minister wants to see net migration cut to 100,000 a year - but is currently running at almost 250,000
The changes would take effect from 24 March 2016 when Scotland would formally become an independent country.
Earlier
this year Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael accused the SNP of
having 'two fundamentally contradictory propositions'.
'First
of all they say we can be part of the CTA, which [would be] an open
border between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and at the
same time they say they will have a widely divergent immigration policy.
'You
can have either of these things, but you cannot have them both. My
challenge to the Scottish Government is to explain which of these it is
going to be.'
Mr Carmichael said the SNP's immigration proposals are 'radically different' and would be 'incompatible' with the CTA.
It
means travellers heading south could be forced to pull over and undergo
lengthy Calais-style identity checks on 21 roads that cross the border,
including the A1, A68 and M74.
Rail
passengers would also need to prove they had a right to enter the
country before boarding a train leaving from Glasgow, Edinburgh or
Aberdeen for England, in a similar time-consuming regime to Eurostar
journeys from France.
A
UK Government analysis paper, launched in January, also revealed that
lorries and vans could be inspected at the English border if Scotland
becomes independent amid fears of alcohol and tobacco smuggling.
A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: 'Existing UK passports can continue to be used as normal until they expire.
’People
will travel freely over the border between Scotland and England just as
they travel freely from Northern Ireland to Ireland.’
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