Borders Bill is ‘repugnant and regressive’, SNP minister says

Neil Gray said the Bill would not fix problems in the UK’s asylum system.

The Bill seeks to curb English Channel crossings (Michael Drummond/PA) (PA Archive)

An SNP minister has said the UK Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill is “repugnant and regressive”, as he urged the Scottish Parliament to refuse legislative consent for some of its provisions.

Neil Gray, the minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, said the Bill would not fix problems in the UK’s asylum system.

The Bill seeks to curb English Channel crossings and change how asylum claims are processed.

Both the Scottish and Welsh governments have condemned the legislation, including suggestions there will be “push-back” exercises involving enforcement officials seeking to repel small boats.

Neil Gray spoke at Holyrood (Fraser Bremner) (PA Wire)

During a debate in Holyrood on Tuesday, Mr Gray said provisions of the Bill required legislative consent.

However this was disputed by the Scottish Conservatives, who said the Bill concerned reserved matters.

Mr Gray, who joined the government last month, said: “I find my first debate as a minister as about a Bill that I find repugnant and regressive.”

He continued: “Let me be clear, the provisions in this bill will not fix the problems with the UK asylum and immigration systems.

“Instead, they will create barriers which will damage our communities, pushing already vulnerable people to the margins of society.

“They will add unnecessary complexity to the already challenging asylum system, restricting rights for refugees based not under the need for protection but how they arrived in the UK.”

Labour and the Lib Dems also said they were opposed to the Bill.

Scottish Labour’s Sarah Boyack said: “Border Force officials have privately said that a push back policy for boat crossing is dangerous and unworkable and could put more lives at risk.

“Labour has said from the start this is a dangerous and wrong approach.”

Donald Cameron accused the government of manufacturing a grievance (Fraser Bremner) (PA Media)

Scottish Conservative MSP Donald Cameron said the relevant provisions of the Bill, which relate to age assessments and modern slavery, do not fall in the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

He said: “The Home Office has noted that the national age assessment board will be a centralised team within the Home Office that local authorities can use if they do not want to conduct their own age assessments can use – not forced on local authorities, but optional.

“That’s not directly affecting the exercise or functions of Scottish devolved bodies to use Scottish Government’s own phrase – quite the reverse.”

Mr Cameron continued: “I have to confess some disappointment that yet again, the Scottish Government has chosen to use this debate on the technicalities of a memorandum to make partisan political points about an issue such as this.

“That’s a practice we are seeing in this chamber more regularly, where the government makes flimsy claims about legislative consent or claims it has devolved competency over matters which are clearly reserved so that it can manufacture a new grievance.”

Following the debate in Holyrood, Mr Gray’s motion was passed by 94 votes to 29.