SNP Manifesto 2019

STRONGER FOR SCOTLAND
STUART McDONALD:
Protecting Freedom of Movement
Freedom of movement has brought amazing
possibilities for Scots to live, work and study across
the EU. It has opened the door to opportunities and
allowed people to benefit from and experience other
communities and cultures.
However, that is under threat from the increasingly
isolationist Tory government that is intent on rolling
back on these rights – once again pulling up the
ladder of opportunity from behind themselves.
In Westminster, Stuart McDonald, the party’s
Immigration spokesperson, has worked across
party lines and with organisations, including the
3million campaign, to support EU nationals already
living in Scotland and the UK, and to prevent the
Tories from creating another Windrush scandal.
Unlike Labour, SNP MPs have been unequivocal
in their support for free movement rights and
opposed the Tory government’s toxic Tory
Immigration Bill from the very beginning. It would
be catastrophic for Scotland and would extend
the Tories’ hostile environment.
And unlike Labour and the Tories, Stuart McDonald
has championed the benefits of immigration to
Scotland – pressing the UK government to scrap its
hostile environment or devolve the powers to the
Scottish Parliament instead so we can put in place
a tailored immigration system that addresses our
social and economic needs.
In an independent Scotland, the rights of EU
nationals will be safeguarded and strengthened.
In the last Parliament, Stuart McDonald and SNP
MPs played a key role in forcing the UK government
to scrap fees that EU citizens were being charged
to stay here, and have supported efforts to give
EU nationals more certainty over their future in
the country.
Scotland has benefited hugely from freedom
of movement and losing those rights would be
devastating for our NHS, social care, universities,
and key sectors of the economy like farming,
hospitality and construction. That is a price that we
must not be made to pay.
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