John Swinney would work with Starmer on relaxing immigration rules for Scotland

John Swinney has said he would work with a Starmer Government on relaxing immigration rules for Scotland after Labour’s deputy leader north of the Border indicated her party would be open to talks.

The First Minister said “nobody will engage with that more strongly than me” after Dame Jackie Baillie raised the prospects of discussions between Westminster and Holyrood about a separate Scottish immigration system.

But he expressed scepticism about whether Sir Keir Starmer would follow through with the talks, arguing that the Labour leader had promised voters in the rest of the UK that he would “shut the door firmly on immigration.”

The SNP later challenged Labour to implement a “bespoke Scottish visa scheme” within 100 days of taking power, assuming Sir Keir’s party wins Thursday’s general election.

Net migration to the UK hit a record 745,000 in 2022 but the figure for Scotland has only been around 20,000 in recent years, prompting questions about why relatively few foreign immigrants are moving north of the Border.

Most people wanting to work in the UK still have to apply for a visa through the points-based system (PBS), whereby they have to get 70 points to qualify for a skilled worker visa.

Since April 11 this year they have to earn at least £38,700 – an increase of nearly 50 per cent from the previous £26,200 minimum – with exceptions for some jobs in health and social care and teaching.

However, key immigration requirements, including the salary threshold, can be waived or watered down for those jobs included on Scotland’s Shortage Occupation List. The independent Migration Advisory Committee recommends which occupations should be included.

The committee has previously said Scotland’s needs are “not sufficiently different” from the rest of the UK to justify a “very different” system, with the north of England facing similar issues.

But the nationalists have argued that a separate, more liberal visa system is required for Scotland thanks to its more rapidly ageing population and declining workforce.

There are now more than a million people aged over 65 in Scotland, with the total growing by 22.3 per cent since 2011. In comparison, the number of under-14s has dropped by 2.5 per cent over the same period and the total aged between 15 and 64 has fallen 1.1 per cent.

Dame Jackie told the Herald on Sunday that Labour would introduce a new system that matched immigration to a new system that tackled skill shortages and encouraged more UK immigrants to move to Scotland.

“So we would do what the Tories have not done, which is to marry those two together because I know there are skill shortages in different parts of the UK including in Scotland – for instance in the care sector,” she said.

“So how do we make sure to match our immigration system to skills is something that is very firmly on the agenda at a UK level and Scotland would benefit from that.”

She added: “Given the levels of immigration that there are – and that’s become a hot topic – actually not many people are ending up in Scotland and we need to understand why that is and whether there is something we can do to incentivise people to come more to Scotland once they have reached the UK, that is a job for us to think through.”

Pressed if Labour would be open to some devolution of immigration powers, including a Scottish visa, she said: “There would be discussions to have at that time until then I am absolutely fixed on July 4 polling day.

“All my energy is going into that. But I would expect governments to work together, to talk to each other, to respond to each other’s needs.”

Mr Swinney told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show that talks with Labour had not started but “I welcome” Dame Jackie’s intervention.

“Because if it’s an indication of some of the practical steps that might come from inter-governmental relations with an incoming Labour government, then nobody will engage in that more strongly than me,” he said.

However, he said he was a “wee bit doubtful” whether this would transpire given Labour’s pledges to clamp down on immigration “on every UK television channel”, saying it had taken a “very, very hostile attitude.”