By Chris McCall
Copyright dailyrecord
Anas Sarwar has said left-wing politicians must speak up on how to fix a “broken” immigration system or risk letting Reform continue to use it as a “tool to divide us”. The Scottish Labour leader , who describes himself as a left-wing progressive, said today it was “far too easy” for some in politics to ignore the amount of people illegally entering the country and the concern it was causing among the public. Immigration is a matter reserved to the UK Government but the housing of asylum seekers has become a growing subject of debate in Scotland in recent weeks, with repeated protests outside a hotel used for the purpose in Falkirk . Glasgow City Council has also warned it is now struggling to afford the rising costs of providing emergency homeless accommodation, which is partly down to the city accepting more refugees than any other Scottish local authority. Accommodation costs for asylum seekers are paid for by UK Home Office, but those who win the right to remain often end up homeless and at the mercy of local authorities. There has also been a sudden rise in saltires being tied to lamp posts in some parts of the country, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, in response to a right-wing social media campaign hostile to immigration. Asked if he was concerned by the rise in flag displays, and the meaning behind them, Sarwar told the Record: “The saltire belongs to everybody. It’s our flag. People have tried to hijack it before and not been successful. It remains the flag of everyone in this nation, and we should be proud of our flag. “If we are fundamentally going to address the underlying issues that people feel, we need to focus on those issues rather than making it debate about flags. “If people want to wave our flag, fine. But the underlying issue is, that people do not feel as if their life is getting better. They feel as if they are working harder and harder, paying more and more, and getting less and less in return. “There also those who have concerns about migration. I think it’s far too easy for politicians to try and blame migration on every ill in our society. But I also think it’s far too easy for politicians to say, let’s not talk about migration, it’s not an issue at all. “We have to do all of these things. We have to fix a broken immigration system, we have to address legitimate concerns about levels of illegal migration, we have to address the fact we have a chronic shortage of housing, and we’ve got to address the fact we have over-pressured public services. “All of those have to happen at the same time, rather than politicians who just want to point fingers whether it be Farage and Reform on one side, or certain figures in the SNP who would much rather blame someone else. “And in fairness to a UK Labour Government, they are trying to fix a broken immigration system. They have invested record levels in our public services.” It comes after a former Scottish Labour MP accused Keir Starmer of “pouring fuel on the fire” of the immigration debate after he warned the country was at risk of being an island of strangers. Dennis Canavan, who represented Falkirk for 33 years, also said he was “appalled” by protests outside a hotel in the town used to temporarily house asylum seekers. Asked for his response to the former MP’s comments, Sarwar said: “I’m a progressive, left-of-centre politician. And there are so many people that believe progressive, left-of-centre politicians should not talk about immigration, or should ignore immigration, or this is something only the right should talk about. “I think it fundamentally misunderstands the issues that exist in the current migration system, and how people feel in their communities. The best way of addressing those who want to use migration as a tool to divide us, is by fixing a broken immigration system, while also addressing the fundamental issues people feel in their day-to-day lives.” To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here
