Let me start with some words of advice to our Prime Minister: the salvation of Labour won’t be found by wearing the clothes of Reform and, based on the UK Government’s plan for migration, it appears those clothes have been bought in bulk.

The line that the UK risks becoming an "island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together" has practically given Reform their opening lines to their 2026 Scottish Parliament manifesto. We’re far from it. Here in Scotland, migrants contribute to the cultural and economic richness of our country.

Punching down on them is not the answer. If we’re all to be Jock Tamson’s bairns – a principle our trade union movement believes in with gusto - then our politicians must back that up too and not aim to divide communities for the sake of political gain.

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As well as politically dangerous – it’s economically illiterate. There is a skills shortage right across Scotland but nowhere more so than within our care sector and within the NHS.

There are 800,000 people on waiting lists in Scotland. Delayed discharges from hospital are at record levels as folk wait for care at home to be put in place. The to-do list to fix our public services, particularly those within health and social care, is long. Not one of those services will be helped by pulling up the drawbridge and actively making it harder for employers to recruit the workers they need.

It’s a critical need. Scotland has geographical challenges in recruiting workers into positions within our more........

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