SCOTLAND could have its own immigration system within the UK, Kezia Dugdale has said.

Moving her party closer into alignment with the SNP on a bespoke Brexit deal for Scotland, the Scottish Labour leader said immigration decisions could be taken “at a more local level”.

Immigration control is a key part of Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal for keeping Scotland inside the EU single market even if the rest of the UK leaves in a hard Brexit.

Read more: Donald Trump 'to visit Scotland when he comes to the UK'

The First Minister also called for the devolution of employment law and the ability to strike international deals as part of the plan she published last month.

In a speech in Edinburgh, Ms Dugdale said she remained “against independence and pro-union”, but that did not mean she wanted the status quo.

Instead, she wanted all non-reserved powers to go to Holyrood after Brexit.

She said different parts of the UK could have immigration policies tailored to filling local skill gaps, and cited the Canadian province of Quebec, which sets its own immigration rules.

Westminster’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration last week said the UK government should “seriously consider” giving Holyrood more powers over immigration.

Ms Dugdale said: “We need to seriously consider the case for decisions about immigration being taken at a more local level, along the lines of the model that is in place in Canada.

Read more: Donald Trump 'to visit Scotland when he comes to the UK'

“This would allow different parts of the United Kingdom to have immigration policy that meets their particular needs.

“This proposal is attractive and one that Scottish Labour will look at in more detail in the coming months, including with colleagues from Canada and Quebec.

“New governance arrangements across the UK, that give a greater role to devolved institutions, would create a new phase of devolution for our country.”

However Ms Dugdale also attacked Ms Sturgeon for threatening a second independence referendum if Scotland was denied a bespoke Brexit deal, warning a Yes vote in 2018 or 2019 could leave Scotland “outside of the EU and outside of the UK”.

Calling for a constitutional convention to devise a federal UK, she accused the First Minister and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson of polarising Scottish politics around the constitution.

She said: “More attempts are being made to re-open the divisions of the past few years than there are to heal them and attempt to take our country forward.

“Both the SNP and the Tories talk of unity, but unity cannot be achieved by a politics that sees one half of the country constantly facing off against the other.

Read more: Donald Trump 'to visit Scotland when he comes to the UK'

“It is a recipe for a cold war in Scottish politics with both sides camped out around their positions, and our public services, our economy and our whole country suffering as a result.”