Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy has warned the First Minister that action is needed to curb asylum hotels such as the Mercure in Dumfries.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament this week, Mr Hoy called for wider action to tackle illegal immigration, warning that the use of Mercure hotel to house asylum seekers had “changed the character of the community, and not for the better”.
Mr Hoy said: “We need a government that focuses on the needs of communities like those in Dumfriesshire - and not on allowing more and more people into our country illegally. Britain is our home, not a hotel for those trying to enter the country illegally. But, sadly, this SNP government, this First Minister, and this self-indulgent parliament, simply don’t get it.”
Craig Hoy, who is also the Scottish Conservative candidate for Dumfriesshire, accused John Swinney of being out of touch with voters.
He said: “I say to the First Minister on immigration he could not be further away from the views of real people – the ordinary Scots I spoke to over the summer. Many of the local people I spoke with live with the reality of an asylum hotel – the Mercure in Dumfries – on their doorstep. It’s not - as it is for the First Minister - an abstract matter to them. It’s what they live with day-to-day.”
