Scotland Must Act as a Magnet for Migration or Miss Out says Bute born Graham Watson, MEP

Written by Graham Watson MEP, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Alliance in the European Parliament and published in Glasgow Herald on Wed 6th Sep 2006

"Realisation that the number of Eastern Europeans coming to find work in the UK after 2004's EU enlargement is way above government estimates has sent the immigration debate spiralling up the political agenda - and, not coincidentally, onto the tabloid front pages. Yet behind the tough talking designed to pacify the populists lurks a problem that is only half-acknowledged: that no single UK immigration policy can adequately meet the diverse needs of Britain's different regions.

As Westminster readies for restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians, expected to join the European Union in January 2007, Scots should be shaking their heads in dismay. Faced with an ageing and shrinking population, chronic brain-drain and a stagnant economy - despite some signs of revival - we need many, if not all, of the estimated 3,800 workers that a leading think tank, the IPPC, believes could be lured from the Balkans to staff our hospitals, pick our crops and support our burgeoning services sector.

Since 2004 Eastern Europeans have filled skills gaps or simply taken on the jobs most Scots are unwilling to do. This is especially true in places like Caithness and Sutherland that have struggled to fill essential posts in health and social care that are a life-line for local communities. As the region's Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Stone has reinforced; 'Eastern Europeans have proved a net plus for the regional economy - and received a warm Highland welcome into the bargain'.

Despite some complaints that migrants are outperforming the local Romeos, Scotland paints a remarkably rosy picture of the benefits of enlargement, reflecting the findings of February's European Commission report into worker mobility. This waxed so lyrical on its contribution to the British, Irish and Swedish economies that five more EU countries decided to lift restrictions on Eastern Europeans before the year is out. However, faced with pitiable poll ratings and a xenophobic press onslaught it seems that the UK government will hastily hoist the drawbridge when Romania and Bulgaria join the Union.

If so, there is little Scotland could do independently to attract the workers we need to deliver good public services and keep up tax revenue. The Scottish Executive's Fresh Talent initiative was meant to overcome some of these difficulties: but it lacks teeth and Holyrood's European and External Relations Committee has slammed it for failing to turn the two-year visas on offer into something more permanent. The truth is that under current constitutional arrangements Scotland has its hands tied. Only through a major overhaul of devolved powers can the Executive hope to seed successful labour market policies and create the best climate for growth.

In this context should is it not time to reflect whether Holyrood - and indeed other regional governments - need greater power to tackle the fiscal problems posed by projected population demographics? Surely Scotland's needs - very different from those of England's South East - would be better served by ceding centralised control in favour of more flexible federal policies. Rather than a step towards independence, this would merely emulate the approach taken by countries like Germany, whose Lander manage migration through a system of powers shared with their national government in Berlin.

Such a move could allow a Scottish Immigration Minister to take decisions that currently fall outside Holyrood's remit, like allowing asylum seekers to work while their cases are being heard or issuing temporary work permits for seasonal workers. Alternatively it might involve setting up a new kind of Partnership Working with the UK government - as proposed by the Liberal Democrat Steel Commission earlier this year - that would do away with the one-size-fits-all approach which dominates decisions taken at Westminster.

The immigration debate is simply the latest example of where too much centralised control runs contrary to the interests of Britain's regions. In terms of renewable energy, for example, Scotland is light years ahead of the UK in meeting EU targets. Scotland is light years ahead of the UK in meeting EU targets but is unable to exploit related economic and environmental opportunities to the full because Energy Policy is still largely overseen, and funded, by Westminster. The same goes for tax policy, which could be used to promote environmental and social goals by bringing principles like 'the polluter pays' into every strand of government action.

If UK government ministers are ready to go on record stating that politics must override economics in the debate over migration, it is high time Scots acted in their-own interests and demanded a reopening of the Constitutional Convention. Failure to redraw the boundaries of power between Westminster and Holyrood will simply mean that regions are forever held hostage to the vagaries of Westminster priorities. And to a populism that peddles worst case scenarios to the detriment of a reasoned, flexible and economically cogent answer to the challenges we face."