Someone with a robust notion of their people's place in the world is more likely to be welcoming to outsiders than a person with less of a sense of national identity. So it stands to reason that, on balance, compared with other parts of the UK, it is the Scots whom we would expect to put out the welcome mat for new migrants. That is the conclusion of a report today from the Commission for Racial Equality. The Scots' strong sense of national identity drives a world view that sees newcomers in terms of opportunity rather than threat.
There are other distinctive reasons, of course: a preoccupation with the prospect of a falling population, for instance, and a recent history in which immigration has been more or less balanced by emigration. Scots have travelled and settled elsewhere, so identify with those far from their native turf. A "hail fellow, well met" attitude is writ large in Scottish Executive policy: the Fresh Talent initiative, funding to help trafficked women and, from a febrile beginning, increasing discomfort over Home Office rough treatment of failed asylum seekers.
However, it would be wrong to pretend that everything in Scotland's race-relations garden is rosy. The relative affluence of the Scottish locations chosen for this study, Perth and Kinross and Edinburgh, may distort the findings as it is among the white working class and in areas where newcomers are concentrated (mainly Glasgow) that racial tensions run highest. Glasgow did not adequately prepare the ground for the UK asylum-seeker dispersal programme but has learned from its mistakes. But flashpoints persist in areas that have absorbed large numbers of new arrivals and where the availability of housing, employment, social services and education are already major issues.
There is also significant racial tension between different ethnic minorities, a feature of which is resentment of second-generation and third-generation immigrants towards newer arrivals. Though the concept of racially-aggravated offences was introduced in Scotland in 1998, the low rate of convictions continues to cause concern. We must be on our guard against the poison of racial hatred.
Two stories in The Herald last week showed how much Scotland has to gain from its newest citizens. Nearly three-quarters of construction industry managers said migrants from eastern Europe worked harder than their Scottish counterparts and the Scottish Enterprise Business Gateway initiative revealed that more than 100 refugees were considering setting up businesses in Glasgow. Their actions speak louder than our words.
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