Robert Jenrick provoked a furious backlash from the SNP after he falsely claimed the party “don’t house refugees in Scotland” in the House of Commons.
The minister for immigration took questions today after an impact assessment into the Illegal Migration Bill showed the cost of relocating asylum seekers to a third country, such as Rwanda.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper kicked off the debate, taking aim at the lack of substance in the report.
But it was spurious claims from Jenrick on Scotland that really got people north of the border riled.
Responding to SNP home affairs spokesperson Alison Thewliss, who accused the Tories of failing to “recognise the value of human potential” in a powerful speech, Jenrick replied:
“I’m delighted that [Thewliss] celebrated Refugee Week. I don’t know if any refugees came to it because the SNP don’t house refugees in Scotland. The point is that we are proud of our record as a country, since 2015, we’ve welcomed over half a million people into the UK under a Conservative Government seeking genuine sanctuary from war and persecution, individuals coming from Hong Kong and Ukraine and Syria and Afghanistan.
“The SNP continually pose as humanitarians. But we all know the truth is that at every single opportunity they fail to live up to their fine words.
“If the SNP cared about this, they would welcome asylum seekers into their own part of the UK – but they don’t.”
Jenrick was heckled during his reply, with the Glasgow MP bellowing: “How dare you?”
Home Office data from 2020 to 2021 published last year showed Scotland took in around 13 per cent of all refugees resettled in the UK during that period – above the country’s population share of 8 per cent of the British total.
Jenrick made similar comments last year when he said the only part of Scotland “pulling its fair share and taking asylum seekers in” was Glasgow, run by an SNP administration.
Speaking after the debate, Thewliss said the minister’s comments were inaccurate.
Raising a point of order, she said: “It’s not up to the Scottish Government, it’s up to the Home Office where people are dispersed, not the Scottish Government.
“Glasgow supports around 5000 asylum seekers, Scotland took well over its population share of Ukrainians, every single local authority in Scotland took people as part of the Syrian resettlement scheme.”
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