#RefugeesWelcome

The emails  to the office today have been dominated by the Refugee issue.   As an MSP I've had a few but my Westminster colleague  Brendan O"Hara has had several hundred from around the area as people pressure the UK Government to take action.

Nicola Sturgeon made it clear yesterday and again today that Scotland stands ready, and I have to say that so do many people in Argyll & Bute with lots of practical offers of assistance from a house in Tiree to a caravan in Cowal.   But as the UK Government is in charge of migration and borders they have to allow people to enter.   So the ball is firmly in their court and so far they are playing it in a most miserable and miserly fashion. 

Brendan and I now have a  joint  staff and it was their idea to make sure that everyone was in the shot with the same message.   Brendan was just concluding his island tour but Marie Claire, Ciorstaidh and Keir were keen to make it clear that for us, and for almost everyone we know, refugees will  always be welcome.

I say "almost everyone" .   As soon as I had tweeted the hashtag this afternoon  I got trolled by  UKIPpers (and worse) starting with the woman who was the UKIP candidate in Argyll in May and who is apparently intending to stand here again next year.

But  in Argyll and Scotland  they are  in the tiniest of minorities  politically and (thankfully) morally.