Scottish visas are a terrible idea

The last thing Labour needs right now, after the last hundred days of scandal and mishap, is a row over immigration. So the party will not have been pleased this morning to see reports in the Scottish press suggesting that the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is considering introducing a separate Scottish immigration visa, which would help Scotland counter its falling birth rate.

This is not the first time the idea of a Scottish visa has surfaced. It has long been campaigned for by the SNP, with the nationalist MP Stephen Gethins tabling an amendment this week to allow Scotland to set up its own visa regime.

Labour’s deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, also suggested in June that there would be ‘discussions’ over a Scottish visa, or ‘MacVisa’ if Labour won the general election, which of course it did. And in 2016, the then justice secretary Michael Gove suggested that it would be for ‘Scotland to decide’ its immigration levels after Brexit.