(CB):...To give just a few figures, 13% of
undergraduates are overseas students, while 38% of postgraduates
are. No one contests that when these students return to their home
countries, they represent a substantial, if unquantifiable, source
of soft power for this country for decades to come. Yet we
categorise these students as economic migrants, and in recent years
have piled up a mass of obstacles, both bureaucratic and material,
to their coming to study here, and post-Brexit, there could be
more. The consequences are pretty clear: overseas student figures
are down substantially. Overall, the number of non-EU students is
down by between 2% and 8%. The number of students
from India is down by a half in the
last two or three years...
Lord
(Con):...I support this amendment and, if
necessary, I will go on supporting it as long as we debate this
issue in this House. I support it, first, because I think I am
being helpful to global Britain and to the Government, including
the Prime Minister. When she went on that trip to India the other day, which I am sure was
very successful, she wanted to talk about trade and they wanted to
talk about students. I also do it because of my regard for the
Minister of State. It is not only that Minister’s brother who has
said how crazy it was to pursue this policy and that we should
change it. I first became convinced of the importance of changing
it when I read an article two and a half years ago by that
admirable man Nick Pearce and . Nick Pearce was then head of the
Prime Minister’s think tank in No. 10. At the end of that article
in the Financial Times, Mr Johnson, the Minister of State—who is
not in his normal place today, so we must send him this bonne
bouche down the Corridor—and Nick Pearce wrote this:
“Changing the way students are classified will have little effect
on the Government’s ability to control medium to long-term net
migration … The Government faces real choices over policy on
international students. The difference they make to long-term net
migration is relatively small. The difference these choices make
to the education sector, to Britain’s soft power around the world
and to the UK economy is very significant”....
(CB):...It is clear that what is happening is an
own goal in a number of ways. We need these students in our
universities for academic reasons, to sustain specialised
courses, to maintain academic quality and to make friends in the
long term. It is a matter of perception as well as reality. The
reason why the numbers from India plummeted more than from
China was that the Indian press were able to present the
message that students were not welcome any more in the UK. So
perception is very important. We will lose a great deal of soft
power in the long run if we maintain this perception. The present
Government’s policy is baffling, not only to many of us on the
Cross Benches, but to many people within the Government and on
the Conservative Benches. expressed concern about this
and other Ministers have too...
...One has only to imagine a young academic from,
say, India, Singapore or China deciding which
country they wish to work in. It is clear that the attraction of
the UK compared with other countries has been greatly diminished
by recent events and, unless we can send a signal to counter
those trends, we will lose out in the long run. I note that the
Government promised some special treatment for bankers; I think
that, equally, they should provide it for other skilled
occupations, including academics...
(Con):...I give a few statistics to support my
proposition that the UK does welcome students. The UK is the
world’s second most popular destination for international higher
education students. Since 2011, university-sponsored visa
applications have risen by 8%. Although Indian student numbers have fallen, as
was mentioned earlier, we have seen strong growth in respect of
other countries, including a 9% increase in Chinese students in
the year ending September 2016, as was also mentioned. This shows
that our immigration system allows for growth. I apologise for
speaking at some length on these matters but it is important to
lay out the facts and address this very important point of
perception...
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