Immigration is a top priority for Scottish voters, poll suggests
Some 21 per cent of Scots think immigration is one of the top three issues in the country.
Immigration is now a top priority for Scottish voters, a new poll has suggested.
Some 21 per cent of Scots think immigration is one of the top three issues in the country, according to a poll by the David Hume Institute and the Diffley Partnership.
The figure - first reported by The Scotsman - was up from 16 per cent in May and just four per cent in May 2023.
It means that immigration is now the third biggest priority for Scots.
The NHS (48 per cent) and the cost of living (37 per cent) are the only issues which were bigger priorities.
Scott Edger, senior research manager at the Diffley Partnership, told The Scotsman: “Healthcare and the cost-of-living remain the top public priorities, but the rise of immigration as a leading concern marks one of the clearest shifts we have seen in recent waves of data.
“With Scottish Parliament elections on the horizon, political leaders will be alive to these underlying changes in public sentiment as they shape their pitch to voters.”
SNP MSP George Adam said: “This survey shows how out of touch Westminster politics has become. While families in Scotland are struggling with soaring bills, Labour is fixated on scapegoating immigration instead of fixing the economy. Scotland deserves better than a race to the bottom on immigration.”
It comes after an anti-immigration protest took place in Perth on Saturday. A group called Abolish Asylum System held the demonstration outside the Radisson Blu hotel.
Protesters carried signs saying “Perth is full - empty the hotels” and “get them out”.
There was also a counter-demonstration by Perth Against Racism.
SNP Perth and Kinross Council leader Grant Laing told BBC Scotland: “A lot of this in Perth started off two or three weeks ago when there was a claim there was another hotel or two hotels going to be used for housing asylum seekers - completely false.
“The council speaks to the UK government weekly about what’s happening. There was never any intention or even any application from Mears on behalf of the UK government, for imminently other people coming to and staying in hotels in Perth. It’s the sort of misinformation that happens.”
It comes as Nigel Farage's Reform UK party rides high in the polls.
Reform has consistently led UK polls, with surveys for next year's Holyrood election suggesting they could win over a dozen seats.
The poll was carried out between August 1 and 5, with 2,190 surveyed.
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