The SNP and Lib Dem reaction to the Inverness asylum seeker plan reeks of hypocrisy

Daily Record Political Editor Paul Hutcheon says Labour's centre-left rivals have let themselves down over the Cameron Barracks plan.

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The reaction to the UK Government plan on using a barracks in Inverness reeks of hypocrisy.

Labour inherited a shambolic asylum system that will take years to sort out.

The Tory policy of housing people fleeing persecution in hotels was another blunder of epic proportions.

Despite these manky hotels only housing one third of asylum seekers, this discredited policy consumes around 75% of the accommodation budget.

Packing people into hotels lined the pockets of property owners, created community tensions and left asylum seekers at risk of harassment.

A plan B was required and so the Government is trying to use military facilities, such as Cameron Barracks, as an alternative.

Legitimate criticism should centre on the practicalities, not the principle.

Will asylum seekers be effectively under house arrest in these digs, or will they have freedom to go to the shops and use local facilities?

Despite a ban on working, will they be able to build links with local people and make a contribution to communities?

The 'debate' so far stinks of nimbyism and double standards.

Local MP Angus MacDonald is a supposed Lib Dem whose party at a national level backs the UK accepting asylum seekers.

But MacDonald, who famously donated £25,000 the Tories when Boris Johnson was in charge, sounded like a Reform MP when voicing his objections:

“Cameron Barracks is surrounded by housing and only a 10-minute walk to the High Street, it is secured only by a modest fence. Will security still be maintained by the Army?

“There is a risk that this causes major upheaval in the city centre while only housing a tiny fraction of the numbers awaiting processing.”

This so-called liberal added: "I very much thought the idea of putting them in army camps was to have them out of town, and make them less of an issue for the local population."

SNP leader John Swinney, whose party is supposed to be sympathetic to the plight of asylum seekers, has also let himself down.

He declined to support the plan, instead hiding behind process and hitting out at the “poor approach” adopted by the Home Office.

A key aspect of the barracks proposal is a fairer distribution of asylum seekers across Scotland.

As of June, Glasgow housed 58 asylum seekers for every 10,000 people in the city.

The figure for the Highlands council area, with all its vastness, is still zero.

Inverness has been a city for over twenty years and yet local figures are complaining about a scheme to take in a modest amount of asylum seekers.

It is not racist or nasty to question a dispersal initiative that will impact a local community.

But the critics should come up with a plan for a city that should, in partnership with the Home Office, be contributing to the national effort.

Some Scots are content for Glasgow to house nearly 95% of all asylum seekers while opposing attempts at offering sanctuary in their own areas.

The Cameron Barracks row is an example of principles clashing with the hard reality of politics.

It is easy to say you stand with asylum seekers, wave placards and go on marches.

But it is much harder to stay standing when the pressure is cranked up.

Scotland’s self-styled progressives need to look in the mirror and stop pandering to short-term political interests.

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