McConnell acts over asylum raids

This refers to the recent dawn raids in Glasgow where Kosovan asylum seekers were taken away in handcuffs. The shock news is McConnell has rightly taken issue with the Home Office over this:

"The first minister has taken a stand against the "heavy-handed" removal of failed asylum seekers from Scotland.
Jack McConnell has instructed Scottish Executive colleagues to lobby the Home Office for a new agreement on handling families facing deportation.

There was outcry when a Kosovan family were taken from their home in Glasgow earlier this month in a dawn raid.

The Home Office defended the removal policy and said it would consider the executive's concerns.

The children's commissioner had accused the state of "terrorising children" and "a clear breach of human rights".

Now the first minister has decided to confront the Home Office on its tactics."

The rest is here. While I'm a unionist, I would have to frankly admit that this is one area that is an argument for independence - or at least for further powers to be devolved to Holyrood because up here we simply don't have the same concerns as those living in the South of England. It is to the credit of all the nationalist parties - the SNP, the SSP and the Greens - that they have consistently opposed the Westminster-led harsh treatment of asylum seekers.