Immigration needs to come down, say Sarwar and Ross

Mr Sarwar said net migration across the UK was too high, and there was a huge asylum backlog.

However, he believed that different parts of the UK had different migration needs.

The Scottish party leader called for the migration system to take into consideration the skills gaps in the workforce, saying there was currently a “breakdown” between the two systems.

Workers already in Scotland should be upskilled, he said, “rather than missing out on opportunities and relying on cheaper migration”.

Mr Sarwar continued: “We’ve got to have a migration system that meets our skills need and where our skills gaps are, and utilise investments to create the skills we need here at home.

“I don’t think we’re getting the balance of that right, right now.”

Mr Sarwar acknowledged that the need for migrants was different depending on the area of the country and sectors.

Looking at the health and social care sector, he said workers in social care were “disproportionately” from a migrant background.

Mr Sarwar said health and social care was a priority for Scotland just now, yet “there are people paid more to work in supermarkets than to work in our care sector”. He said this was unacceptable.

UK Labour leader Keir Starmer previously told the Sunday Show: “We’re recruiting too many people from overseas” in the health service and he “would like to see the numbers go down in some areas”.