SCOTTISH First Minister Humza Yousaf has accused the Tory government of inflicting “significant damage” on Scotland’s rural economy amid growing labour shortages.

Mr Yousaf made the comments ahead of a visit to a farm on Stornaway, part of the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency his party are widely predicted lose to Labour at the forthcoming general election.

Blaming long-term trends of depopulation on Brexit, Mr Yousaf expressed frustration that his plan  — backed by the National Farmers Union — to import labour through a rural visa pilot had been rejected.

He said: “This Tory government has continued to pursue a toxic combination of Brexit red tape, the ending of freedom of movement and hostile Tory immigration policies — despite the significant damage this is doing to our rural industries and communities.

“A rural visa pilot would go a long way to addressing this.”

A British government spokesperson said: “Depopulation in rural areas of Scotland can’t be remedied by immigration as rural areas may struggle to retain migrants for the same reasons as with the local population.

“Investment in jobs and infrastructure, which devolved administrations have powers to address, must be considered.”