THE Westminster and Scottish governments must join forces to deliver a migration policy tailored to Scotland, according to John Swinney.

The Scottish First Minister argued that Labour’s focus on limiting migration and its refusal to devolve any immigration powers to Holyrood are “dragging the country in an anti-growth direction.”

Between 2004 and 2008, then Labour first minister Jack McConnell and the Westminster Labour governments ran the Fresh Talent initiative, allowing students from abroad to remain and work in Scotland for up to two years after graduation, a scheme Mr Swinney would like to reintroduce.

Committing his government to do the “hard yards” to deliver a new Scottish graduate visa in partnership with British counterparts, he said: “Twenty years ago, the UK and Scottish governments worked together to launch a tailored migration route designed to enable international students to stay in Scotland after they graduated.

“I see no reason why this cannot happen again. I stand ready to work with the UK government to develop this.”

The Home Office was contacted for comment.