THE SNP have hit out at Keir Starmer’s pledge to cut net migration, accusing the Labour leader of “amping up a far-right belief” and backing a move that would “directly harm Scotland”.
Starmer vowed to pass laws to ban law-breaking employers from hiring workers from abroad and to train more Britons in an interview with the Sun on Sunday.
With his latest election offer, Starmer is encroaching on traditional Tory territory.
He told The Sun on Sunday: “Read my lips – I will bring immigration numbers down.
“If you trust me with the keys to No 10 I will make you this promise: I will control our borders and make sure British businesses are helped to hire Brits first.”
Alison Thewliss, from the SNP, hit out at the move.
“Instead of coming forward with policies based on Scotland’s needs, Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are both amping up the far-right belief that migrants are to blame for all of our problems - but it’s not migrants, it’s Westminster," she said.
"From our care sector and our NHS to our economy, the cruel immigration policies that both the Tories and Keir Starmer’s Labour have now adopted directly harm Scotland.”
Health Secretary Neil Gray described it as “gutless economic self harm” while SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said it could impact key public services.
“All so predictable, all so depressing,” he said on X/Twitter.
“NHS and wider public services would not function without our essential migrant workforce.
“Business would not be able to grow without our essential migrant workforce.
“A race to the right-wing that Scotland's economy simply can't afford.”
Net migration levels hit 685,000 last year, more than three times higher than the figure at the time of the last election when the Conservatives promised to cut overall numbers in their 2019 manifesto.
The latest figures were published a day after Rishi Sunak called the General Election, fuelling the immigration debate – a key campaign battleground – with both the Tories and Labour claiming to hold the answer to cutting the numbers.
Labour would bar bosses who break employment law – for example by failing to pay workers the minimum wage or flouting health and safety rules – from hiring foreigners, the newspaper reported.
Starmer said employers have become “too reliant” on workers from overseas and “should always have a choice of recruiting a British worker first”.
The strategy would involve legislating to link the immigration system to training, with businesses applying for foreign worker visas having to train Britons to do the jobs.
The Migration Advisory Committee, Industrial Strategy Council and Skills England would be brought together to carry out the plan.
Starmer said this would also help reduce the benefits bill.
He declined to detail the target level for migrant numbers or name a timeline.
The Labour leader hit out at successive Conservative governments for failing to cut numbers.
“The Conservatives repeatedly say they are going to cut these numbers,” said Starmer.
“They have never done it. They have completely failed.
“They have never had a strategy to deal with it.”
