The latest ruckus about the Cameron Barracks being used as a detention facility is yet another example of politicians failing to recognise the voices of residents and communities argues STUC General Secretary and Herald columnist Roz Foyer.

When decisions about communities are without transparency, without engagement and without the input of the people who live within the area, distrust can fester. It leaves a vacuum that can be filled by misinformation and dangerous voices. That is what we are witnessing in Inverness with the Home Office decision to house asylum seekers in Cameron Barracks.

Before we begin: our trade union movement opposes the use of detention facilities and inappropriate temporary accommodation such as segregated hotels for people seeking asylum. It is not humane. It is not safe and it’s a direct consequence of a deliberately broken asylum system, designed to slow claims, warehouse people and weaponise fear.

In a letter issued last week by the STUC and the Inverness Trades Union Council, we called for an urgent roundtable meeting of key stakeholders: the Home Office, Highland Council, NHS Highland, Police Scotland, community councils, unions, churches, charities and locally elected representatives.

We did this because the absence of dialogue is already breeding confusion, mistrust and misinformation -........

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