John Swinney says he wants immigration boost in Scotland to solve Brexit worker crisis

dailyrecord.co.uk:

First Minister-elect John Swinney wants more immigrants to solve the worker shortage crisis caused by Brexit.John Swinney said his number one ask from Westminster is extra powers for Holyrood to stimulate economic growth by increasing the population.Swinney is certain to become the next FM after rival Kate Forbes revealed she would not stand to be leader of the SNP.The 60 year old could be sworn in next week to succeed Humza Yousaf and Forbes is expected to be given a top Cabinet job.Swinney has promised to restore the SNP to the “mainstream” and speculation is rife about his policy agenda.The MSP gave a speech on 25 years of devolution to the Resolution Foundation on Monday - the day Yousaf resigned.Asked for one power he would like to be devolved from Westminster, he said:“I think the area that’s got to be explored are the powers to create significantly more economic opportunity.“I think those relate to areas around about employment policy, around business policy and around population policy.“We all know population growth is a significant driver of economic growth.”Business leaders have complained about Brexit-related shortages in areas ranging from bus drivers to care workers.Swinney said Labour’s Fresh Talent Initiative from twenty years ago - where Holyrood was given flexibility over immigration - was successful.He added: “If you go back, again over the 25 years, Scotland was facing an acute challenge about the size of its working age population in the early part of the 21st century.“These concerns were largely addressed by EU expansion in 2004 and the migration that followed from that, so our working age population grew.“It is now a critical factor post-Brexit because of the challenges about migration.