Call for immigration rules review

The group wants to stop the population from growing

A cross-party group of MPs and peers has dismissed claims that Scotland needs large-scale immigration because of its declining and ageing population.

It is calling for the UK's immigration policies to be reviewed in a bid to prevent the population growing.

The group, chaired by former Conservative and Labour ministers, said this would reduce the pressure on public services.

It has proposed a cap on the number of people allowed to settle in Scotland.

The government estimates the UK's population will grow to almost 80 million by 2050, from the current figure of 65 million.

We are in an area where more workers are needed and these workers are not going to be provided by this little increase in fertility Prof Robert Wright Strathclyde University

The group's report said this would put a strain on public services adding that a new home for immigrants would need to be built every six minutes.

It said the government's points-based system for work permits would not restrict numbers and called for an immigration policy to stabilise the population.

The politicians also said claims that Scotland needed immigrants to do the jobs Scots do not want to fill, and that its overall population was ageing and declining, were not true.

It said Scotland's population was stable and that vacancies in the jobs market were a sign of a healthy economy.

'Special case'

Professor Robert Wright, an expert in population and economics at Strathclyde University, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that Scotland was a "special case".

"The issue here is what's going to happen to the labour force, as Scotland is in a situation now where without immigration its labour force will shrink dramatically over the next few years," he said.

Prof Wright said the rising birth rate in Scotland would have an effect in about 20 years time but added that the situation in the UK as a whole was not the same as in Scotland.

"We are in an area where more workers are needed and these workers are not going to be provided by this little increase in fertility we have had recently," he added.

"One of the things we have never had in Scotland is a mature discussion on the economic role of managed immigration."