New Scots: The Fresh Talent Initiative and Post-Devolution Immigration Policy

The devolved Scottish parliament promised to deliver Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. But the parliament was devolved, not independent. While certain powers and responsibilities health, education, economic development and the arts, for example were devolved, Westminster retained responsibilities for areas of policy deemed to be best run on a United Kingdom basis, such as foreign affairs, national security and macro-economic matters. This article examines the potential that these arrangements generate for conflict in the area of immigration control. Insofar as immigration is a matter of economic development, it is a devolved matter. But to the extent that it is deemed to be a matter of foreign affairs or national security, responsibility remains reserved in London. This is an interesting division of roles, given a discursive environment in which immigration is tightly coupled with economic development.