THE SNP’s candidate in the upcoming Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election has challenged Labour to speak up for a detained University of Stirling postgraduate student.
We previously told how MP Alyn Smith (below) wrote to the Home Office after it was revealed that Muhammad Rauf Waris was arrested and detained by immigration workers after being accused of breaching the conditions of his visa by working more than the legally permitted 20 hours per week.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Waris resides in former MP Margaret Ferrier’s constituency.
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As she was removed following a recall petition, Smith has taken on Waris’s case although Katy Loudon could eventually become his representative should she win the upcoming by-election.
The National approached the Home Office for comment over the weekend but did not hear back.
Following the news, Loudon has called on Michael Shanks, Labour’s candidate in the by-election to speak up for Waris.
“If Starmer’s man in Rutherglen can’t call out the horrid treatment of a local resident and condemn the hostile environment his party now endorses, then it will be clear he would allow people to suffer every right-wing policy Starmer is now championing”, she said.
Loudon added: “This is another devastating example of Westminster’s utterly inhumane and deliberately hostile immigration system.
“There is no justification for detaining someone for weeks on end and forcing them to live in limbo, whilst their health worsens – especially when they have a valid visa and evidence to support that the conditions were being met. It’s just downright cruel.
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“Time and time again we see the lengths Westminster is willing to go to implement hostile and illogical Tory immigration policies that are both harmful to people and damaging to Scotland’s economy – and it’s a disgrace that the pro-Brexit Labour party supports them.
“It is only by voting SNP that people can send a message to Westminster that these barbaric policies are not accepted in Scotland.”
The National has approached Scottish Labour for comment.
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