David Maddox: Repercussions in Westminster over immigration and Ukip may yet be felt north of the Border

ECONOMIC immigration is hardly a new issue in British politics, it might even be one of the oldest, arguably dating back to that first Regum Britanniae King Arthur getting worked up over Saxons and Angles wanting to make their futures on these shores.

But the fact that all three main political parties have put it at the top of the agenda in the last few weeks is no coincidence.

Yesterday, Tory Prime Minister David Cameron hardened his line on immigration, last week Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg abandoned his liberal stance on immigration, and Labour leader Ed Miliband can’t stop himself apologising for his party allowing too much immigration.

In the midst of the worst economic crisis in living memory there is little justification for taking such a hard line. Immigration boosts economic growth. It’s just it also drives down wages and sees greater competition for jobs.

If you need proof of the benefits of immigration look at the beating heart of the UK economy, London – a city with 270 nationalities and 300 different languages, according to the United Nations.

Former Labour Scottish first minister Jack McConnell’s Frest Talent initiative was not done for popularity but a recognition that immigration was the best way to get the economy north of the Border moving.

The politicians argue that they are tackling immigration because it has got out of control and because of the problems with the economy. That is not true. It is because there is a new force in British politics – Ukip.

The rise of Ukip has been seen in the way the party has taken third spot from the Lib Dems in some polls and almost managed to win the Eastleigh by-election last month.

The Eastleigh result was a shock to all the main parties, but particularly the Tories. Mr Cameron had thought he had neutralised the “nutters and closet racists”, as he described Ukip, by offering a referendum on EU membership, Ukip’s main political message. Instead the Tories came a poor third in a by-election campaign where Ukip made the fear of millions of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants the dominant political issue.

The scandal in Rotherham where a Ukip-supporting couple were stopped from being foster carers because of their party affiliation was a sea change. After that Ukip had to be accepted as a mainstream party and could no longer be dismissed as “nutters”.

But there is one part of the UK relatively untouched by Ukip – Scotland. So while the main parties are rejigging their policies to suit a largely English political problem, it means their message has even less relevance north of the Border on both immigration and Europe.

In the run up to the independence referendum this growing divide in priorities north and south of the Border could yet have an impact on the Scottish psyche.