The Liberal Democrats leader, Nick Clegg, has come out in favor of welcoming immigrants to work in the UK. The reason cited by the leader is that there are several under-populated areas that suffer from acute skills shortage. Scotland also forms part of such low-populated areas, Clegg added.
The Lib Democrats maintain that under such policy, it will become illegal to hire any foreign staff not possessing a valid UK work permit adding that the proposed policy will be policed only through the companies.
UK immigration policy to direct new immigrants in the UK to Scotland has not won much support, primarily due to the reason that such proposal would be curbing the freedom of movement right of the immigrants. This UK immigration plan has been labeled as highly impractical by the Highly Skilled Migrants Forum.
Meanwhile, Nick Clegg and Lib Democrats UK immigration have also proposed provision of ‘earned UK citizenship’ for those who had lived in the UK illegally for more than a decade. This proposal has won support from Boris Johnson, the mayor of the UK. Presently, there are nearly 618,000 undocumented immigrants in the UK, reveals a study by London School of Economics (LSE).
Speaking in favor of directing migrants to Scotland, Clegg said that if the Liberal Democrats are able to secure a win in the General Elections, a UK Points-based system will be introduced to find the areas where most UK work visa holders are needed.
Clegg criticized the current UK Points Based System (PBS) saying there is likely to be an acute shortage of skilled foreign labor in Scotland’s care sector and this is due to the existing loopholes in the PBS.
After several consultations with various local care homes, it has been found that Scotland urgently needs Filipino senior care staff, Clegg added.