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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Severin Carrell Scotland editor

Independent Scotland would let asylum seekers work, says SNP

Shirley-Anne Somerville
Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Scottish cabinet secretary for social justice, said UK governments had ignored the needs of Scotland for too long. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

An independent Scotland would let asylum seekers work and claim benefits, and introduce an expansive visa system, under Scottish government plans to arrest the country’s declining population.

A paper published on Friday by the Scottish National party-led government said the country faced an economic crisis unless it managed to attract new residents. Scotland’s birth rate is projected to fall and it has a population that is ageing faster than anywhere else in the UK.

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