Thread by @ellenjoelle

The Home Office yesterday said that 2million of the (HO guesstimate) 3.3million #EUcitizens in the UK have now applied for Settled Status. Digging into those statistics in regards to #Scotland - bearing in mind there are no reliable UK immigration stats - reveals the following:

https://twitter.com/ellenjoelle/status/1182049684996710401

Going by 2017 NRS data there were 239,000 🇪🇺 #NewScots in Scotland. Subtracting the 21,000 Irish-born EU nationals (whose residency rights aren't depending on EU citizenship = No need for SS applications) that leaves us with 218,000 #NewScots required to apply for Settled Status.

Previous to @patel4witham "FoM will end on October 31st" misleading dogwhistling exercise only ONE in five 🇪🇺#NewScots had applied for Settled Status (despite ~ £5 @scotgov spend per head on access to SS info). Contrast this with 1 in 3 for rUK (with only ~£3 pp UKgov spend).

Within days after her statement @patel4witham abandoned her plan to end FoM 'once and for all' after lawyers & policy experts advised it'd leave UKgov wide open to legal challenge - She had successfully demonstrated the moral vacuum of UK migration policy: ft.com/content/484f4f…

In September 500,000 UK-based EU citizens applied for Settled Status, scared of this unashamed glorification of deliberate human rights violation resulting in the largest spike of SS applications since introduction of the scheme. 24,900 #NewScots applied.

According to these statistics following the September spike around 2 in 3 EU citizens in rUK have now applied for the Settlement Scheme. In #Scotland, despite the spike only ~45% of #NewScots have applied.

Many September Spike applicants are still anxiously awaiting the results.

While UK-wide 66% of EU citizens have now been blackmailed into applying for the right to stay in their own homes, less than half, or 4.5 in 10 #NewScots have, despite @scotgov's comparatively much higher per capita spending on helping them access information.

Wondering why?

These figures tell a clear story: @scotgov's narrative that #Scotland wishes to remain #UnitedInDiversity, #NewScots continue to be welcome and valued and the prospect of #independence have certainly hit home.

And has possibly lulled #NewScots into a false sense of security.

Unless @scotgov takes decisive steps NOW Scotland will continue to hemorrhage #NewScots - whether they leave 'voluntarily', due to increasing, mostly invisible discrimination or are forced to leave through @ukhomeoffice's hostile environment - it will be #Scotland's #bitterloss

This is the reality that 55% of #NewScots are currently heading for.

https://twitter.com/the3million/status/1182203372574822402?s=19