Scotland needs more immigrants

I’ve written an article for the Scotsman today arguing that Scotland needs many more immigrants. Aside from all the usual arguments in favour of this kind of blood transfusion I should also have said that increasing the number of non-Scots in Scotland is a useful hedge against being governed by, you know, Scots should we ever get around to voting in favour of independence… Anyway, here’s the gist of the damn thing:

Though polling data says Scots are about as immigrant-friendly as Londoners – and, therefore, likely to be more relaxed about immigration than people in other parts of the United Kingdom – that still means some 70 per cent of respondents agree with David Cameron’s claimed determination to reduce the number of immigrants settling in Britain. On this, as on so many other issues, the difference between Scottish and English public opinion is so small that a visiting foreigner might conclude these peoples could almost share a country.