Moray SNP News
62% OF MORAY WORKERS INELIGIBLE UNDER TORY IMMIGRATION PLANS
08/07/2020SALARY THRESHOLD WOULD HARM ECONOMY & PUBLIC SERVICES IN MORAY
The UK's proposed new immigration system could halve the number of people coming to Scotland, risking labour shortages in key sectors, an independent expert group has warned.
New research shows that 62% of migrants who want to work in Moray would be ineligible to come to the UK under Westminster proposals - shutting the door on our ability to recruit talented, skilled and dedicated workers from Europe and elsewhere.
According to previous analysis by the Expert Advisory Group, 53% of roles filled by employees in Scotland earn less than £25,000, including up to 90% of jobs in the care sector.
Holyrood’s Finance Committee has also warned that demographic changes could pose risks to Scottish public spending, and our ability to fund the NHS.
Figures published by the NRS show that around 3000 EU nationals were living in Moray as of December 2019.
SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said:
“The COVID-19 crisis has clearly demonstrated the UK’s reliance on key workers who have come to Scotland from all over the world.
“Locally, we know that around 3000 EU nationals have chosen to make Moray their home and if this policy had been in place many of them would have been turned away by this hostile Tory policy, which would have considered many of them to be low skilled.
“This pandemic has shown beyond doubt that people working in the roles which the Tories describe as ‘lower-skilled’ are absolutely vital to our communities.
“Without migration, Moray could face a demographic crisis that could hammer public services like the NHS – as an ageing population leaves Scotland with fewer working-age taxpayers.
“Earlier this year, I hosted a roundtable discussion with representatives from Moray’s public and private sector to discuss how these plans would affect our economy and our communities, and it was clear that these proposals would be devasting for Moray.
“But despite the clear evidence, the Tories seem utterly determined to back Boris Johnson’s closed-minded plans which will be immeasurably damaging to Moray and Scotland.
“On top of coronavirus, this damaging policy is the last thing that Moray needs.”
The updated report can be read here:
NRS statistics on population and place of birth can be found here:
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality.
