Even 17th century Britain welcomed refugees - Alex Cole-Hamilton

Imagine the scene. You’ve just washed up on the beach at Dover. The leaky craft you’ve crossed the Channel in wouldn’t have lasted much longer and you had to watch as the one carrying your brother and his family sank beneath the waves five miles from shore with the loss of all hands.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a press conference following the Supreme Court's Rwanda policy judgement, at Downing Street on November 15, 2023 (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

But you’ve made it, the promise of a new life away from religious persecution is finally within reach. The year is 1685.

Unseaworthy boats have ferried those seeking safe harbour in our islands to Britain from France for centuries. And the scene I’ve just describes refers to the Huguenot exodus from France following the removal of a law which allowed them to practice their protestant faith without fear of persecution and murder.

Their arrival saw the first adoption of the French word “refuge” and by extension “refugee” into the English language as a description of our new guests. In response to their persecution the parliaments of England and Scotland even passed a law called the Declaration of Indulgence, which allowed the freedom to practice any religion. For the 17th Century, that all feels surprisingly welcoming.

At the time of writing, MPs are yet to vote on the Conservative Government’s plan to send planeloads of those seeking refuge to Rwanda – 4,000 miles away to a country the UK Supreme Court has deemed unsafe for them.

Instead of backing down, Rishi Sunak is now attempting to pass legislation which states that Rwanda is a safe country and which prevents judges from ruling otherwise. That would bypass the Human Rights Act, undermine the independence of our courts and damage our reputation internationally.

All of this has laid bare the ignorant and inhumane attitude towards asylum seekers by some sections of the Conservative Party. Like Tory Party Deputy Chair Lee Anderson who even suggested last month that asylum seekers should be sent to Orkney or “a nice Scottish island with a few outbuildings” while they wait for their applications to be processed.

Liberal Democrats believe we have a human duty to offer both protection and safe, legal routes for those fleeing torment. We also want the government to create a dedicated unit to make asylum decisions quicker and more fairly.

The Government’s wider anti-immigrant narrative also recently saw the announcement of a new policy to increase the visa salary threshold for migrant workers to over £38k and clamp down on family visas. It’s about to become so much harder, for young people especially, to have a hope of ever living with their partner if they are from overseas.

Over their time in office, the Conservatives have become bitter and cynical about the contribution that others can make to our nation. In reality, our economy and public services need immigration, from our farms to our care homes, our NHS to the ground-breaking research labs of our universities. It also has a role to play in addressing the demographic challenges we face in Scotland as a result of depopulation and ageing.

Our island story is a tapestry of cultures and traditions. When you offer someone a chance at a new life they repay that opportunity many times over. I was taught that by my Canadian immigrant mother, herself a decedent of Huguenots who’d fled to North America for much the same reason as those who came here all those years ago.

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats