The shambles over asylum seeker numbers and the homeless refugee crisis in Glasgow is an indictment of the entire political class. Glasgow rightly has a reputation for welcoming people who are fleeing persecution, torture and war. The city has for decades led on housing asylum seekers, with Glasgow becoming a byword for compassion.
A catastrophic failure of policy
But our story today shows how good work can quickly be undermined due to a catastrophic failure of policy. Rolling out the dispersal programme – a decision made in recent years – was the right thing to do. Glasgow cannot be expected to house asylum seekers alone and other council areas are now contributing.
But the fact the Home Office, as of March, had not placed anyone in an area like the Highlands is appalling. Ministers have grown used to depending on Glasgow, despite the acute strain in public funds.
Poor decision making at Holyrood
Poor decision making at Holyrood has made a bad situation even worse. Liberal housing decisions like the abolition of priority need simply result in a huge number of refugees making homeless applications in one city. The result is growing anger and a divide between voters and politicians.
A number of decisions must urgently be made to help Glasgow. One, the UK and Scottish governments should provide more funding for housing and extra cash to ease community tensions. Two, national dispersal should become a reality for every council area in Scotland. Three, liberal homelessness laws – however well intentioned – must be reviewed and scrapped.
The broader issue
The broader issue is that Labour and the SNP need to take the issue of asylum out of the hands of the far right. They must accept that their policies are damaging the fabric of society and accept that working-class communities feel ignored.
The Record has a proud history of standing up to far-right thugs who seem to divide and inflame tensions. We have no sympathy with people who want a halt to asylum and we deplore the violence outside hotels housing vulnerable people. But we will also stand up for the ordinary people who have been left behind by successive administrations. They feel deep economic insecurity and resent being called racist for raising concerns about how money is spent.
The SNP and Labour governments are often at each other’s throats due to a disagreement on the constitution. But the crisis in Glasgow is one where the governments can work together and reach an agreed solution. Asylum seekers are not to blame – the fault lies with an out-of-touch political elite.
