Facts

In the House of Commons, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick responded to a question from SNP MP Alison Thewliess about the government’s illegal migration bill by saying that “the SNP does not house refugees in Scotland”

He added “if they cared about this issue, they would welcome asylum seekers into their own part of the UK, but they do not”

Mr Jenrick was immediately heckled. 

As Full Fact explained, we do not have data on what part of the UK many refugees settle in which means we can’t say for certain how many refugees are living in Scotland. 

However, of those refugees for whom we do have location data since 2010, Scotland has resettled 3,854 from various refugee resettlement schemes. 

In addition, as of 31 March 2023 at least 24,050 Ukrainians have arrived in Scotland under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. 

Verdict

Mr Jenrick was wrong to say that “the SNP does not house refugees in Scotland”. 

According to the Ministerial Code,  “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.  Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister.” Robert Jenrick was misleading parliament in defiance of the Ministerial Code.

We reached out to the Home Office which replied to the effect that this “is not something the Home Office would comment on.” We also reached out to Mr Jenrick’s parliamentary office, but received no reply.