By our Political Correspondent
The Scottish Yes Parties have issued blistering warnings that Labour’s increasingly harsh rhetoric on immigration, refugees, and asylum is doing nothing but fuelling a dangerous lurch to the right in Westminster, directly benefiting the far-right agenda of Nigel Farage.
The SNP, Scottish Greens and SSP have reiterated that instead of tackling the systemic crises facing working-class families—austerity, Brexit fallout, stagnant wages, and soaring costs—the Labour leadership is focused on an ideological race to the bottom, adopting policies that threaten to tear families apart and destabilise communities.
The Retreat from Compassion
The SNP sharply criticised the Labour party for considering kicking out long-term residents and refusing to guarantee the safety of people like Ukrainian refugees.
SNP Depute Leader at Westminster, Pete Wishart, did not hold back:
“It is outrageous that Labour is considering kicking people out who have been in the country for up to 20 years. That would mean families torn apart, communities destabilised, and people denied the chance to contribute – and Labour can’t even offer reassurance to Ukrainians who have become part of every community across the country.”
Wishart slammed the misplaced priorities of a party that should be standing up for public services and the poor:
“A Labour government should be focussed on helping people with rising costs and investing properly in public services – dancing to Nigel Farage’s tune on immigration won’t cut bills… The fundamental problem is not asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants – it is the mess Westminster has made of immigration policy and the massive inequality that exists in the UK.”
Solidarity Against the Hostile Environment
Scottish left parties are united in their condemnation of the “race to the bottom” on immigration, viewing the scapegoating of migrants as a political diversion from the root causes of the UK’s economic and social crises.
The Scottish Green Party condemned the competition between Westminster’s major parties to appear the most punitive:
“It is grotesque to watch Labour competing with the Tories and Reform to see who can be the most hostile to refugees and migrant communities. It is a race to the bottom for human rights.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) reiterated its core stance of solidarity, rejecting the narrative pushed by the right:
“We utterly reject all attempts to blame migrant workers, refugees or asylum seekers for Britain’s economic, social and cultural problems.”
The SNP concluded its statement today by arguing that the UK political system itself is fundamentally broken and incapable of protecting Scottish values, linking the crisis directly to the need for constitutional change:
“The Westminster system is broken in so many way, and with the rise of Nigel Farage and his toxic agenda, things are only going to get worse. We need policies that work for Scotland, not a Westminster system that treats Scotland – our values and our priorities – as an afterthought. We are better off with Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands – that means independence, and the opportunity to give our country the fresh start it needs.”
Ungagged Editorial Team Member Delivers Scathing Attack
The willingness of Westminster’s main opposition to embrace this punitive, anti-immigrant agenda, as highlighted by the SNP, is seen by left-wing commentators as a profound moral and political betrayal.
Neil Scott, from the Ungagged editorial team, delivered a ferocious assessment of the political consequences, linking Labour’s policy descent directly to the threats against the National Health Service and Scotland’s values:
”This policy clearly leads the way in a far right St John fashion, for the fascist, far right “Jesus,” Nigel Farage to build on. Farage is the ridiculous, but dangerous far right cult leader into whose hypocritical weeping from his fascist cross of selfishness, greed and hatred for the poor will destroy all that is good in the current United Kingdom- from the giving of refuge to traumatised and violated people, to our NHS. Scotland NEEDS its independence from the failing and increasingly right wing Westminster regime.”
