Most Scottish voters are against John Swinney’s plans to boost immigration, a poll has suggested.
More than three quarters – some 77 per cent – of voters in Scotland said they want immigration to go down or stay at the current rate, according to a Norstat poll for The Times.
Less people said they wanted immigration to go up than go down. Only 23 per cent said they wanted immigration to rise, while 34 per cent said they wanted it to fall.
Just six per cent wanted a major increase, with 17 per cent wanting an increase. This contrasted with 18 per cent who wanted a decrease and 15 per cent who wanted a major decrease. But the largest group – some 43 per cent – wanted neither a rise or a fall in immigration.
Backing for a cut in immigration is highest among Reform UK voters at 71 per cent and peple over 35 at 40 per cent.
Some 38 per cent of Labour and Tory voters want a drop in migration, but 21 per cent of Labour voters backed a rise compared to 10 per cent of the Tories. SNP and Lib Dem voters backed a rise in immigration rather than a cut.
The poll had also found that Reform is taking more votes from Scottish Labour than the Scottish Tories. The right-wing party was on 12 per cent, just one point behind the Tories and four points behind Labour.
The SNP wants “full power over migration policy” through Scottish independence. The party says this would allow the Scottish Government to “build asylum and immigration systems geared to meet Scotland’s needs and founded on fairness and human rights”.
Some 1,026 people were surveyed by Norstat between January 11 and 14.
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