Nats quietly drop demand for devolved border control

IN a foaming rage after the UK left the EU in 2020, Nicola Sturgeon said full control of Scotland’s borders was “now a necessity for our future prosperity”.

- By Ben Borland

That was thought to have been the SNP’s position ever since, and just a few months ago, Nat MP Stephen Gethins launched a bid to make immigration a fully devolved issue.

However, it has now emerged that John Swinney’s government has quietly shelved the policy that Scotland should have full powers over post-Brexit migration in a rare concession to the supremacy of Westminster. The move comes amid soaring tensions over Britain’s migrant crisis.

The U-turn was revealed in the Scottish Government response to the UK Government’s Immigration White Paper, drawn up earlier in the summer. Officials wrote that “our policy position is not to seek devolution of immigration powers”.