Scotland’s Population Needs and Migration Policy

As an amendment to motion S5M-10571 in the name of Fiona Hyslop (Scotland’s Population Needs and Migration Policy), leave out from first "notes" to end and insert "believes that immigration has proven valuable to the economy, population and public services, including the NHS, in all parts of the UK; further believes that immigration and freedom of movement within the EU has enriched the country; notes that, while the Fresh Talent Initiative addressed a specific need, its scale was not sufficient to solve the population and economic challenges that exist in Scotland, and other parts of the UK, and that larger-scale, substantially differentiated approaches would pose a risk to the Common Travel Area, and considers therefore that what is required is a new UK-wide debate on the benefits of immigration and for the UK Government to cease its divisive rhetoric, abandon its arbitrary immigration cap and produce a statement on the benefits of workers from overseas, similar to that produced by the Scottish Government's Chief Economist in January 2018."