Only 15 percent of Scottish teenagers want to see more immigration, according to an official study, the results of which will have come as a blow to the nation’s mass migration-backing political establishment.
A survey carried out by Ipsos Mori revealed that almost two-thirds of more than 1,700 Scottish 11- to 18-year-old state school pupils polled believe immigration should be cut or kept at its current level — which is much lower than in neighbouring England.
More than a third of teenagers polled (35 percent) felt the level of immigration to Scotland should stay the same, while 30 per cent said immigration should be “decreased” or “stopped completely”, the Scotsman reports.
Only 15 percent of respondents supported more immigration to Scotland than the country currently sees.
The figures emerged in the Young People’s Attitudes to Immigration report, a study commissioned by the left-wing Scottish government which lowered the voting age to 16 in 2015.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly banged the drum for higher immigration, declaring that Scotland’s “most important national challenge” is importing migrants in order to grow the country’s population — despite pressure on existing housing stock and public services.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, who has also cited the fact that Scots have moved abroad “to seek new opportunities” in the past as a reason why the nation must open its borders, claims that an ever-expanding population is “essential to [Scotland’s] economic prosperity”.
In May, an SNP report declaring mass migration-driven population growth a “top priority” for the government proposed an independent Scotland should offer generous tax breaks to prospective migrants, along with financial incentives with the aim of persuading an additional 5,000 foreign students to stay on in the country each year.
Despite almost uniform consensus on the issue from Holyrood’s political establishment, with Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson also demanding Westminster open the borders to make Britain more “vibrant”, polls show ordinary Scots are no more keen on mass migration than their neighbours south of the border.
A survey published earlier this year found that just 24 per cent of the Scottish public would back having a more liberal immigration regime than England and Wales after Brexit, with almost two-thirds wanting to maintain the UK-wide system.
Another poll revealed support for cutting low-skilled non-EU immigration was actually slightly stronger in Scotland (69 percent) than in England (67 percent).
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