Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

Professor John Robertson OBA

In the Guardian, today, the above and:

More than 50 lone child asylum seekers who disappeared soon after arriving in the UK [sic] and while in the care of the authorities are still missing, according to data obtained by the Guardian.

Many of the missing children arrived in small boats or hidden in the backs of lorries and are thought to have been taken by traffickers. Kent is often the place where they arrive.

Freedom of information data from Kent county council (KCC), which is controlled by Reform UK, has documented 345 children going missing from their area, with 56 of those still missing.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/01/more-than-50-child-asylum-seekers-still-missing-after-disappearing-from-kent-care

There are reports of child asylum seekers or child refugees going missing in Scotland though the numbers are much smaller than in even this one county in England. In 2017, the Daily Record 5 out of 46 going missing.1 Between 2018 and 2020, the Ferret reported 11 out of 600 going missing.2

Sources:

  1. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/children-trafficked-scotland-vanished-council-13848280
  2. https://theferret.scot/missing-trafficked-children-protection-crisis/

How is his contrast explained?

Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

In the HOUSE OF LORDS European Union Committee 48th Report of Session 2017–19 HL Paper 428 Brexit: refugee protection and asylum policy, we read:

‘The Refugee Council, for example, noted that unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Scotland and Northern Ireland had access to independent guardians, but that an equivalent service was only available to children in England and Wales who had [and who could prove that they had] experienced modern slavery.’

Click to access 428.pdf

This follows the research the University of Birmingham showing that ‘EU families in Scotland feel more welcome and safer than south of the border.’

Click to access eurochildren-brief-8-sigona-godin-scotland.pdf

Earlier reports here reveal a consistently more humanitarian approach to refugees and other migrants:

Different NHS Scotland and Wales reject England’s hostile environment for vulnerable migrant mothers-to-be

It is a matter of life in Scotland and death in England

Only Guardian and Al Jazeera tell us EU families and ‘Eurochildren’ in Brexiting Britain feel safer in Scotland

Scotland drifting away from nasty place as SNP Government launches funeral benefit for those on low income

3 thoughts on “Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

  1. It’s absolutely criminal those children are missing, what the heck and why is the EngGov not on the case they have all sorts of tech means to find the traffickers and secure the safety of those children. Just despicable.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Talking of migrants…….sorry long comment , but most of it consists of a transcript of a TV report by SKY News.

    Connor Gillies, SKY News Scottish correspondent , did a TV report on SKY News on the 30 October where he had been allowed into a Reform UK meeting in Glasgow, he advised us the viewers that he had apparently been trying to access one within Scotland for 10 months.

    Why ?

    He met and interviewed various people at the meeting including an existing Reform UK Councillor, Audrey Dempsey, who had previously been a Labour Councillor but she was suspended by the Labour party amid claims of racism , via comments that she had made.

    (She, Dempsey, had claimed there was “a rise in racist attacks on white children and teachers”).

    She then quit Labour, became an Independent and then she joined Reform UK and so now she is a Glasgow Councillor for them. (not elected as such but defected to them).

    Connor spoke to her and below were some of things that she had said about Migrants…..

    “When they (migrants) arrive in the country (England First) and they were, you know, fitting in with our culture, our values and learning our way of life. That would be more than welcome”.

    “Instead of coming in and trying to inflict their culture on other people here you know like Sharia Law, for instance, they’re trying to bring that here. That’s not something we celebrate”.

    (In respect to her “Sharia law” comment she was asked who was “bringing it here“)…….

    “The Asylum seekers. Some of the Asylum seekers , the legal migrants“.

    (When asked “where that was happening”)……..

    “Well do you not have conversations in the street” ?

    (Asked to confirm that she thought it was asylum seekers bringing Sharia Law to the streets of Glasgow )

    “Oh absolutely , yes absolutely, you just have to take a walk through Glasgow city centre, any given day and I think the fact that probably the line of questioning you have , if you’re so shocked by this you’d be even more shocked by what you find”

    (So then Connor said to her “I’m just asking genuine questions because you know if Councillors and elected officials are going to make those statements surely it needs to be corroborated and substantiated”)

    Her evidence to substantiate this was:

    “There is stacks of evidence online where these migrants are posting themselves , you know videos of them saying their coming to the land of Milk and Honey , they’re coming to take over “.

    Online” ? So not actually happening on the streets of Glasgow then.

    As she was unable to give specific examples from independent witnesses to this happening on the streets of Glasgow , thus giving her previous (wrong) assertion zero credibility.

    Also the quote from the bible “the land of Milk and Honey” that she said Migrants spoke of online, is this attributed to the UK ? I think not.

    I mean are we talking about the same S*** UK State ?

    BTW a Professor once responded online to a claim made by Richard Tice in a episode of BBC QT where Tice had said “We’ve already got 80 sharia courts in the UK”.

    The professor wrote this online in response to Tice’s remark:

    Sharia courts” are not legally binding in the UK. They only carry weight if both disputed parties *choose* to follow their judgement. It’s like a friend informally mediating a dispute

    The professor then wrote that “this needs to be stated in such debates because this inflammatory rhetoric needs to be brought back to reality”. (perhaps also tell Audrey Dempsey that as well as not sure what her uninformed understanding of Sharia Law actually is).

    (Finally Connor G asked Ms Dempsey “Do you believe they’re coming here to take over , in your words” ?)

    Her incredible and completely absurd response was ” I don’t quite know what I believe at this moment”.

    Later in the report Connor G spoke to Thomas Kerr, the former Tory Councillor who also defected to Reform UK and Connor G did a voice- over that stated:

    “This is a party standing in every seat across Scotland and promising it’s procedures are more robust after past controversies”

    Kerr said this:

    “The vetting procedure that we put in place as a party is absolutely vigorous , I’m pretty confident that every candidate we will see standing for Reform UK will be top notch candidates who will do the party proud”.

    (“Top Notch”…….that will come back to haunt Kerr….indeed this SKY News TV report shows it to be false based on the interviews done by Connor G to an existing Reform UK politician (Dempsey) and also others as potential candidates).

    “It’s looking good , we are not complacent , we’re fighting for every single vote. The election is still eleven months away . We’ve risen very quickly . I’m very aware of that could fall very quickly as well . So we are putting everything in it as you have seen tonight with the meeting and trying to get our activists enthusiastic”.

    (Connor G asked Kerr “There’s maybe a sense from some that they’re making policy up on the hoof, is that a problem that you have to tackle” ?)

    “It’s a problem that we’re working with the now ”

    (OMG “A problem they are working on now”….well listening to the interview with Ms Dempsey, and also others within this TV news report, then for Reform UK it is already a case of …..Horse…Bolt…Stable door….aka too late …..as the second rate type of candidates , as in the ‘dregs of the pond’ seem to be already within Reform UK’s -pretend- party)

    Connor G , in his report, also spoke to other people and I will add what they said onto another comment.

    The problem that Reform UK have within Scotland, via a majority of voters, is that prior to now their HQ leader, Nigel Farage, has never shown much interest in Scotland or indeed spoken up for Scotland as part of his UK State……..however on the 19 September 2014 Farage did speak up for England.

    Farage said “We’ve had a lot from Scotland but the tail cannot go on wagging the dog any longer.” and also “I think England needs a voice – we’ve heard a lot from Scotland” and he maintained that
    English taxpayers should not be bound by promises made by the three main party leaders during the referendum campaign.”.

    The SNP would do well to seek out Farage’s quotes made on the day after the Scottish independence referendum and then in debates prior to next year’s elections they can then challenge Reform UK candidates as to why Scotland would vote for a party whose leader puts England First………before Scotland.

    Farage’s quotes may have been when he was the then UKIP leader but really UKIP, The Brexit Party and now Reform UK are all cheeks that have stemmed from the same Arse….and that Arse’s name is Nigel Farage.

    Liz S

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Further comment on SKY News report via Connor Gillies.

    Other interviews……including a future Reform UK candidate Paul Bennie.

    He said “I’ve been with Reform just about a year now. Reform are the only party that are offering a cohesive approach for a better future”

    Connor G said “Tell us what you really think. That’s , that’s the party line”

    Which got this response “It is a party line but that’s what I do think,
    Politics is bust in the country as a whole

    This country as a whole or the UK as a Hole ? Does he mean Scotland or the UK ? If so how ? As in corroborate and substantiate that comment with examples . I assume none were given as Connor then moved onto speaking to a Reform UK member called Gordon.

    Connor said “The Polls are suggesting the SNP are going to win again”

    The response Gordon gave was “There’s nothing like a bit of gerrymandering to make sure the constituencies fit your constituency profile”.

    Surely he needs to elaborate exactly what he meant in respect to this “gerrymandering” but Connor asks him “So you think it’s a fix” ?

    Gordon said (with no evidence to substantiate or corroborate his conspiracy theory aka his personal opinion) “Oh it’s been a fix for donkey’s years”.

    Then Connor interviewed Faten Hameed, who fled Iraq 30 years ago and came to the UK and has now passed vetting hoping to stand for this party (Reform UK)

    She previously in 2019 stood as the candidate for Labour in Scotland for Glasgow Central in the UK GE and lost , who vetted her for Labour?

    Then in the 2024 UK GE she stood for the Conservatives in Glasgow West in the UK GE and lost, who vetted her for the Tory party ?

    Connor asks her “Would you deport anyone” ?

    She states “For illegal immigration yes, yes, put them in camps and deport them if they don’t really , um shouldn’t be here”.

    Connor says “You want to set up deportation camps in the UK” ?

    Her reply “Well why not ? Other countries have done it. If they are really illegal immigrants , yes “.

    He asks “Where would you set them up” ?

    She states “Well that is a really for the , um, government to decide”

    He then says to her “Well you suggested it so where would you set them up” ?

    She became a wee bit flustered as perhaps she had not thought her ‘plan’ fully through and so she said “you see if it’s , if it’s coming via France and whatever , it’s be on that side of the country”.

    He asked “So the deportation camps wouldn’t be here in the UK” ?

    Her response “No No it’s be here in the UK because the boats are coming to us”.

    Coming to us ?

    They are actually landing on the English coastline and that is not illegal to do. Indeed only if they seek asylum then there is no problem.

    If they come to the UK and do not seek asylum or if they remain after their permission to stay has expired, they are then considered to be illegal.

    He said to her “So someone would arrive on a boat into the South of England and be put straight into a camp even though they might be seeking asylum”

    She said “ Well they’re all seeking asylum anyway when they arrive here”

    Connor then said “Which is their legal right”

    Her (non) response “Well that is another thing why are they here. Why” ?

    Which then promoted Connor to say “Are you making this up as you go along”

    She said “Making what up” ?

    Connor’s response “Policies on the hoof”.

    She seemed to not know what to say and she looked a bit flustered and lost , as obviously she had assumed that what she said to him would just be accepted….and so not challenged.

    So basically reinforcing the fact that she , and other potential candidates for Reform UK, were indeed making it up as they went along , and not just the “policies on the hoof”, but also their fake accusations, like for example the , lie that “Sharia Law is taking over the streets of Glasgow”. (As said by Audrey Dempsey the Glasgow Reform UK Councillor who was previously a Labour Councillor)

    To help her out Connor elaborated what he was referring to when he then said to her “Deportation camps” ?

    She said “No , not really

    He then asked her “Is that reform policy” ? (deportation camps).

    She said “It’s not a matter of reform policy. It’s a matter of what’s required. The country is drained”

    So basically a future potential Reform UK candidate is suggesting there should be deportation camps for Migrants who land on the English coastline but then says “It’s not a matter of reform policy” .

    So will she also do that for all other policies….as in just give her opinion on what she wants the Reform UK policies to be on an issue, but not what they actually are in respect to them being her party’s actual real policies??????

    I watched this TV report from SKY News and my immediate reaction was ‘Don’t anyone panic about the perceived (by the media) threat posed by Reform UK in Scotland’ …surely ?

    As any fair minded and rational person within Scotland who watched that report and listened to some of the people in it , then the words Reform UK and barge pole would spring to mind.

    There will be other TV reports on them in Scotland , of that I am sure, but perhaps Thomas Kerr or the Real powers that be within Reform UK, as in their HQ, will decide to try and keep some of these potential candidates away from the media, as they seem to be more of a political hindrance (embarrassment) to Reform UK in Scotland than actual political assets for them………

    There will also be the various hustings next year for the Scottish elections where Reform UK candidates, of the same poor calibre as some of those interviewed in this SKY News report, would be exposed as being those who were completely useless and so untrustworthy…..

    Aka a wasted vote………

    As to the televised debates then the SNP have rich pickings to choose from in respect to the kind of party Reform UK really are………the evidence and proof is online (also see the Blue Sky account called ‘Reform UK part exposed’ as it has all the latest on them…with all of the posts about them being bad…in respect to them as a pretend party).

    Connor Gillies and Sky News are just another part of the UK MSM who are doing their bit to try and convince us all that Scotland is not different to England…….though we do have a way to avoid all of this S*** , in us , via a majority, voting for the SNP next year and then finally, via a majority, voting for our independence from their UK State.

    Apologies for my two long posts on here……..if you have managed to read them…….BTW this SKY News report is online via them but also it is on YouTube.

    Liz S

    Liked by 3 people

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