CONSERVATIVE MP Jonathan Gullis has been shot down after claiming Scotland should "step up" to help ease the "burden" on English councils that are accepting refugees.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Gullis said that cities like Stoke were carrying the burden for the rest of the UK and criticised Scotland for only having two local authorities as part of the Asylum Dispersal Scheme.
SNP MP Stuart McDonald hit back at the Tory, insisting Scottish councils were ready to welcome more refugees once they have received clarity on funding from the UK Government.
📺 Tory MP Jonathan Gullis tells Scotland to 'step up and do its bit' to ease the 'burden' of accepting refugees on English councils pic.twitter.com/xG7jYA3pbc
— The National (@ScotNational) March 22, 2022
He said: "Stoke on Trent is asking for other areas like the 30 plus local authority areas in Scotland to step up and do their bit because in our city of Stoke on Trent we're now at the one in 200 threshold for people in terms of refugee Vs local citizens ...
"Let's get into the facts of the matter, if Scotland stepped up to the plate and did their bit then Stoke on Trent wouldn't have to carry the burden for the rest of the country."
This is how SNP MP @Stuart_McDonald responded to those claims 👇 pic.twitter.com/py9jyP9RBf
— The National (@ScotNational) March 22, 2022
Replying to Gullis' intervention, SNP MP McDonald said: "The Home Secretary agrees with the point I'm making that it's outrageous that local authorities have been left without the proper funding to do their job.
"As I have said a million times in this house, once that funding is in place you will see other Scottish local authorities step up to the plate just as every single Scottish local authority stepped up to the plate in relation to the city and resettlement scheme."
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