Arts events like Edinburgh Fringe suffer from ‘chaotic’ visa system – MP

A “chaotic” approach to immigration and the visa system has harmed the Edinburgh Fringe, an MP has suggested.

Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine labelled the annual entertainment festival “vital” for the Scottish capital’s economy as she told the Commons arts and culture had “suffered” as a result of immigration rules.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from Friday August 2 until August 26, with thousands of performers and fans from around the world expected to create and watch comedy, theatre, dance and circus events, among the many acts promoted.

Edinburgh West MP Ms Jardine told MPs: “I live in and represent part of Edinburgh, a diverse city which at this time of the year is preparing for a massive influx of performers and audiences from across the world.

“It’s fun, it’s entertaining but more than that, it’s a vital event which brings more than £400 million into the local economy every year and is part of our creative industries which are worth £126 billion to the UK economy every year.

“They’ve suffered as much, perhaps more than, many other sectors from the chaotic and ineffective immigration and visa system we’ve had in this country for the past decade.

“Make no mistake, we need to improve it, but we need to improve it for our economy, our NHS.

“For generations, people from all over the world have greatly enriched our economy and our culture.”

Ms Jardine urged the Home Secretary to make good on her party’s pledge to “smash the criminal gangs” who facilitate migration across the English Channel but added: “Could we be entering a period with more positive attitudes towards immigration? Fixing the asylum backlog?”

Conservative shadow home secretary James Cleverly had earlier accused the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper of presiding over “seven days of destruction”, in reference to the Government’s move to scrap plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Ms Cooper pledged “secure borders” after she alleged Mr Cleverly had himself described the Rwanda plan as “batshit”.

Mr Cleverly had said: “Members of this House would of course be familiar with the seven days of creation. The new Home Secretary has managed seven days of destruction.

“She, on day one, cancelled the partnership with Rwanda, taking away the deterrent, a deterrent which the National Crime Agency said we needed in order to break the business model of people smuggling gangs.”

Ms Cooper replied: “Every one of (the Tory frontbench) championed that policy on Rwanda, that the shadow home secretary, to be fair to him, did notoriously describe as ‘batshit’ crazy, well, maybe that’s what you need to stand to be the Tory leader right now.”

Mr Cleverly asked the Home Secretary to identify when and where he made the alleged remark.