RUTH Davidson has been savaged for failing to back a student nurse threatened with deportation just 48 hours after demanding a more enlightened immigration regime.
Nicola Sturgeon said "shame on them" when the Scottish Tory leader and her MSPs were the only party at Holyrood not to show support for Denzel Darku.
The Tory benches sat in silence at First Minister’s Questions while all other sides cheered and applauded in support of Mr Darku after his case was raised.
The mute response was in spite of Ms Davidson saying on Tuesday the UK government should drop its migration target for a more “mature” and “welcoming” system.
READ MORE: Kenny MacAskill: SNP now 'fundamentally undemocratic' under Nicola Sturgeon
Mr Darku, 23, came to Scotland from Ghana nine years ago, was elected to the Scottish Youth Parliament and carried the Queen’s baton in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The Home Office is now attempting to remove him, claiming he has not been able to show he is still dependent on his father, an EU citizen who also lives in Scotland.
The former Paisley Grammar School pupil says he had had to drop out of Stirling University because of visa issues and to fight the deportation ruling.
Mr Darku’s case was raised by West of Scotland Labour MSP Neil Bibby, who asked the First Minister to challenge the Home Office over its policies.
He said: “This is a young man who has built his life in Paisley, once a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, a Commonwealth Games baton bearer and student nurse who wants to work in our NHS, but who is also the victim of bogus migration targets and the hostile environment policy of the Home Office.
“He is someone who has contributed a huge amount to this country and who wants to stay in Scotland and the UK so he can contribute even more, and given the reaction of so many people in my community and across the country it’s clear people want him to stay here too.
“Does the First Minister agree with me, that there can be no justification for dragging a young man like Denzel away from the place he calls home?"
The chamber then erupted in spontaneous applause and desk slapping, with only the Tories not taking part, despite being encouraged to so by other parties and SNP cries of “shameful”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The complete lack of support that the Tories have just shown for a young man who has Scotland as his home and wants to continue to have Scotland as his home says everything we need to know about the Conservative party today. Shame on them.
“I’ve met Denzel in the past. He’s a fine young man. He is an absolute credit to Scotland and it is outrageous, scandalous, a disgrace that he is threatened with deportation.
“We should be trying to attract more young people of his calibre to Scotland, not chasing them away. He wants to be a nurse in our NHS.
“How many times do the Tories stand up in this chamber and complain about matters in our NHS? How many times do they stand up and complain about staffing shortages in our health service? And yet we have the Tories wanting to deport a young man who wants to contribute to our NHS.
“Ruth Davidson said she she didn’t agree with the targets. But she wants Scotland to remain locked into these immigration targets that are so damaging to our economy and our society. The immigration policies of the Tories I think are disgraceful.
“I will do everything I can to make the case for Denzel Darku, to argue that case, as I’m sure Neil Bibby as the MSP who has taken up the case will do.
READ MORE: Ruth Davidson questions UK Government's net migration goal
"But I think what we need is more than action in one case. What we need is a change to immigration policy - a more humane policy and one that recognises the needs of our country and it’s that all of us should be campaigning and arguing for.”
The Home Office says all applications are considered on merit and according to immigration rules.
Mr Darku's lawyer, Jamie Kerr of Thorntons Solicitors, said: "Denzel now has a court hearing coming up and we are focussed on using strong legal arguments to win that.
"We are still hopeful that the Home Office might apply some common sense before the hearing and not force us to use up valuable court time to resolve this."
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