Scotland’s dirty little secret: we’re as anti-immigration as England

In August 2007, three months after coming to power at Holyrood, the SNP launched its National Conversation on Scotland’s constitutional future. We have been talking about little else since. Among the many national conversations postponed is one on immigration. The CBI has tried to kick-start such a discussion by warning that, within 20 years, just one third of Scotland’s population will be of working age. Given that figure is currently 64 per cent, it is an arresting claim. It is also entirely plausible. The Office for National Statistics predicts the number of working-age Scots to grow by just one per cent between now and 2041, while the pensioner population is expected to surge by 25 per cent. Scotland is getting old, fast, and the birthrate in the last quarter was the lowest since records began.

The CBI wants the UK’s post-Brexit immigration regime to reflect Scotland’s needs, but given the disparities in income, demography and labour across the country, it’s not an easy task.