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RUTHERGLEN MSP SLAMS TORY IMMIGRATION PLANS

The Tory Government has unveiled controversial plans to reduce the number of legal and illegal immigrants coming to the UK.

The Home Secretary announced that, for legal migration, the earning threshold for overseas workers would increase by nearly 50% from its current position of £26,200 to £38,700, and people who come to the UK on Health and Care Worker visas will no longer be able to bring their family members with them.

According to the UK Government, these measures mean around 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not able to do so.

The plans have attracted widespread criticism with local MSP Clare Haughey warning the impact the plans would have on Scotland’s NHS and social care services.

The General Secretary of the trade union, Unison, said the “cruel” plans would spell “total disaster for the NHS and social care” – arguing that “[m]igrants will now head to more-welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families.”

The UK Government has also announced a clamp down on illegal immigration through by pushing on with their Rwanda plans.

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey raised the Tory proposals at First Minister’s Questions.

In response to Ms Haughey, the First Minister said it was a “real dark day for the UK”, adding:

“On immigration, the latest announcements mean that the UK Government is asking migrants to come here to look after our own family members but doing so by abandoning their own family members back home. On asylum, the UK Government has virtually eliminated any practical legal route for those that are fleeing war or persecution.”

Speaking to the Rutherglen Reformer, Ms Haughey said:

“Scotland has an aging population and our public services rely on sustaining a strong, skilled workforce if we are to continue to provide the same levels of excellent service. Frankly, we need to be encouraging more people to move to Scotland, not putting up barriers in their way.

“As someone who works in our NHS, I know just how important staff are from overseas. They bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise and will help to ensure everyone in Scotland has access to the right care, in the right place at the right time

“These newly announced measures from the Tory Government are as provincial as they are dangerous and will damage efforts of NHS Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Council to recruit much-needed health and social care staff.”

ENDS