THE Home Office is “unfit for purpose” and should be abolished, the Scottish Greens have claimed.

Speaking at a rally outside government offices in Glasgow, party co-leader Patrick Harvie said the department was “institutionally racist” and proposed wholesale changes to Britain’s immigration system.

Mr Harvie was joined by parliamentary candidates, councillors and party members in Ibrox to put forward policies ahead of next month’s general election.

The Scottish Greens say they would provide the right to housing and healthcare for refugees, as well as allowing asylum seekers to work while their cases are ongoing.

Asylum seekers would also be made eligible for legal aid as part of what they say would be a “welcoming immigration policy,” highlighting the positive impact that immigrants have on Britain.

Mr Harvie said: “The Home Office is utterly unfit for purpose and should be abolished at once.

“The hostile-environment policy has led to the Windrush scandal and the settled-status scheme threatens to create another catastrophe — this time on a larger scale — for EU citizens.

“We know that the Home Office detains families at detention centres throughout the UK, including at Dungavel.

“In Glasgow, 150 asylum seekers face being thrown out onto the street due to the Home Office’s relationship with the discredited outsourcing giant Serco.

“These actions are reprehensible and are indicative of an institutionally racist department.

“Scottish Greens believe that dignity, compassion and respect must be at the heart of our institutions.

“It doesn’t seem to matter what minister is in charge. The inhumanity, the cruelness and the distortion of evidence carries on regardless.”

The Home Office had not responded to requests for comment.