Behind the rhetoric it is lives that matter.

Care is about people. It is about the relationship that one person has with another that enables the supported person, regardless of age, frailty or disability, to lead a full and flourishing life.

Those who act as carers are the soul of our communities and they mirror to us all the compassion and dignity which should lie at the heart of our society. So those who do the work of care are critically important.

It is therefore really upsetting to hear the discussion around immigration describe care as low-skilled and a work that could be undertaken by anyone. Care is highly skilled. It demands a maturity, expertise and ability around human relationships, dealing with distress and anger, and sometimes confusion and hopelessness.

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It often requires women and men to be with people at the hard times of living, to hold a hand as someone dies so that they do not die alone; to soothe anxiety and to give hope and purpose to someone who feels lost in their dementia. The women and men who care are essential to the functioning of any civilised society.

It is in this context that the decision of the United Kingdom Government to work towards the ending of the care worker visa must be seen.

This is about people, not numbers. It is about the people who will be affected should their care and support not be able to be delivered because of an inadequacy of care staff.

Scotland has benefited from care workers from overseas, says Dr Macaskill (Image: PA) It is about the carers themselves, those who deliver irreplaceable care and support and who have offered their skills to our nation.........

© Herald Scotland