Readers' Letters: UK government's migrant changes ignore Scotland's needs

Cooper, desperate to show that Labour is tough on immigration in the wake of the disastrous English local election results, highlighted the care sector. We will now be blocking care workers coming from foreign countries, she announced.

This is completely contrary to Scottish needs as, because of our demography, this little country is crying out for them. There was more than a hint that Cooper was padding out her answer to delay distinctly awkward questions coming down the track on the abysmal failure to reduce Channel migrant crossings. (These are now the highest ever recorded to 1 May).

It took me back to the Labour Party general election launch – when the subject turned to transport, Labour proudly announced they would take the railways back into public ownership within five years. Suddenly voices off, as in a Shakespeare play, were picked up on the microphones: “Scotland already has”!

Are we an equal partner in the Union?

John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife

Afford a welcome

Tellingly, John Swinney dismisses Keir Starmer's “blitz” on immigration as “absolute folly” (your report, 12 May).

It's worrying and self-defeating that Labour are trying to sidle up to Reform UK as to who can be toughest on the subject.

Admittedly, the needs of Scotland, in contrast to the rest of the UK, require the real boost for our ageing population that immigration provides. Given that the birth rate is also declining, active immigrants are essential to our needs

It's refreshing to hear Pope Leo echoing Pope Francis, making the moral case for immigration, specifically against the harsh stance of Donald Trump’s America, but in principle, for everywhere else. Both Popes emphasise “building bridges” instead of “walls” in a reminder that immigrants are fellow human beings who should be welcomed with open arms and compassionate policies.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Forlorn hope

John Swinney has, unsurprisingly, resurrected “independence” as a topic for the 2026 Holyrood election out of desperation by the SNP. Given the 19 years of failures his party will have presided over he is trying one last throw of the dice to get this salient fact forgotten for the perceived “greater good”.

If Mr Swinney really wants to have another referendum the topic ought to be shutting down Holyrood altogether, with a huge saving to the public purse and fewer ludicrous policies – but then he might very well get an answer that he would not like. Given Mr Swinney would seek a 60/70 per cent vote in favour of indyref2 it looks like a loser either way. Nice try, John.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Help women

Your report on the drop in cervical smear tests across Scotland (12 May) is a stark reminder of just how much we’re failing women’s health. A decline of nearly 50 per cent in just two years is a serious issue that we can’t afford to overlook.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer, as long as it is detected early, and screening is one of the best tools we have. That fewer women are coming forward for tests is a worrying trend and means lives could be lost.

We know the pandemic disrupted services, but the decline goes beyond that. Younger women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are already underrepresented in screening programmes. This is a reflection of systemic barriers that need to be addressed – barriers that we should be fighting to tear down, not accepting as the status quo.

Women's health in Scotland has long been underfunded and under-prioritised. The issue of cervical screening is just one example, but it speaks to a wider problem. Menopause, endometriosis and reproductive health issues need to be treated with the same urgency as other medical concerns. We need our politicians to recognise the importance of investing in women’s health, not just for the sake of individual women, but for the long-term health and well-being of communities.

If we are serious about tackling health inequalities, it starts with real, tangible changes to the way we approach women’s health in this country. Access to treatment, education and preventive care must be at the forefront of our policy discussions.

It’s time for us to shift the narrative and make women’s health a priority.

Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, Tayport, Fife

Value life

As parliamentarians prepare to vote on Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill, they must focus not only on the result of the vote, but reflect on the consequences of this bill should it pass.

Many faith groups, including my own, are at the forefront of supporting, caring and praying for those who suffer at the end of life. We oppose this bill as we have others like it. We do so based on our deeply held belief in the sanctity and value of life, and the repercussions of such legislation on society's most vulnerable, at their most vulnerable time.

A wide spectrum of civil society voices echo these concerns – women's groups, disability rights advocates, mental heath support organisations, welfare rights champions and medical professionals. They speak loudly, saying that as a just society, we must offer a better-funded NHS, better support mechanisms, better palliative care and better end of life care. Across the country, I believe there is also a silent majority who don't speak out, or take a side openly on this bill. They too grieve with those who have suffered or who are suffering, and have deep reservations about this bill.

The First Minister, too, spoke eloquently on the bill. The main pillars of his opposition remain as unanswered today as they did when Jeremy Purvis first lodged proposals for a bill in 2004.

At stake is more than just a piece of legislation – it is the moral fabric and social contract that binds our society: our commitment to compassion, to social justice, to protecting our vulnerable and providing the best possible care for one another.

The ramifications are stark. Any mistakes made as a result of this bill passing cannot be undone.

Omar Afzal, Director of Public Affairs, The Scottish Association of Mosques

Plan needed

Alan Woodcock asks why I “bombard letters pages” with criticism of the delusion that is Scottish separatism (Letters, 12 May). The answer is: because he and others remain in denial about it. There he goes again, with the customary “Ireland can do it and we can emulate it”. Not forgetting the “our extensive resources….”.

With our resources, Scotland now has the highest deficit in Europe, at 10.4 per cent. Ireland looks a great success on paper, but it is flattered by both multinational profits (only “resting in Ireland’s account” as Father Ted would say) and intellectual property assets, patents and leasing arrangements, according to former Bank of Ireland Governor Patrick Honohan.

Mr Woodcock has no substantive argument to offer for secession. He claims “the Union is broken”, an assertion based merely on his own sentiments. Like the others of his mindset, he cannot say how secession from the UK would improve Scotland, because it wouldn’t. He cannot provide a blueprint for what Professor Mark Blyth proposed as the necessary plan: “How do you get from here to here by doing this?” The Scottish nationalists have no plan beyond, “it’ll be all right on the night” because we can be like other countries (how?) and we have resources.

Mr Woodcock can only whinge mistakenly about “Westminster underfunding”, when Scots receive £120 for every £100 spent on England. The NHS in Scotland has low productivity and long waiting lists, and it has not recovered as well as the English NHS, which he derides, from Covid. It lags behind the English NHS in the use of technology to promote efficiency and patient access to information.

Shooting the messenger is not a substitute for a detailed plan.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Self-sabotage

Two weeks ago Terje Aasland, the Norwegian Energy Minister, was quoted as saying: “We want to develop [the North Sea] for the long-term, because the oil and gas industry and the service industry is really important. It saves jobs and creates a lot of value for Norwegian society.”

Last week UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband met him in Oslo to sign a “Green industrial partnership”, on the very day Harbour Energy sacked 250 of its 1,000 UK workforce and Norway launched its “largest ever offering of exploration acreage”.

That's right, the man who spends his days hammering nails into the UK oil industry’s coffin is pictured shaking hands with the guy who just can’t believe his luck.

Mr Aasland also said: “I think in the UK, the oil and gas industry has contributed in just the same way – until now.”

Is it any wonder Reform is doing so well in the polls?

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire#

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