Extracts from second
reading debate (Lords) of the Immigration and Social Security
Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill
(CB):...I am a governor of the second-largest
boarding school in Northern Ireland. Of the total number of pupils
who board there, we have some 40 to 50 from foreign countries such
as China, India and now even Russia,
as well as from the Republic of Ireland. I am concerned about the
issue of English language schools in the United Kingdom because
they are now in trouble. We have 400 such schools, attended every
year by some 150,000 students. The sector is worth £1.4 billion to
the United Kingdom economy and it supports 35,000 jobs. Moreover,
having students from foreign countries in our schools helps our
soft power when they return to their home countries...
(CB): This week is the Joint Economic
and Trade Committee meeting between the UK and
India. As chancellor of the University of
Birmingham, president of the UK Council for International Student
Affairs (UKCISA) and co-chairman of the APPG for International
Students, I welcome the recent Government support for international
students through the reintroduction of the two-year post-graduation
work visa—I helped to spearhead this in this House in 2007, it came
into place in 2008, was taken away in 2012, and has now come
back—and the three-year visa for PhD students. Will the Minister
say whether the Government will consider the graduate route as part
of an international graduate employability strategy, to be
developed in collaboration with the education sector and employers,
that provides clear guidance for UK employers on how to employ
students via the graduate route?
I ask the UK Government please to exclude students from the net
migration statistics. Many of us have requested that for years;
all our competitor nations do it. Including them is very
misleading, as research has shown that more than 95% of
international students return after their studies for
postgraduate work. For example, when people enter, they say that
they are coming to study, but when they are asked on the way out,
anybody who worked afterwards says that they were working. This
creates an illusion of illegally overstaying international
students. The lag between arriving and leaving also means that
growing numbers of international students exporting UK education
shows an increase in net migration.
Can the Government include India in the list of
the 25 preferred countries for the UK tier 4 visa rules being
relaxed? For example, China is now included in that list.
Furthermore, international students generate business and tourist
visas. Can the UK Government also reduce the visa fees for a
two-year multiple entry business or tourist visa for
Indians to the same level as that for the
Chinese? Four years ago, this was reduced for China to £85,
whereas it is still more than four times that for
Indians. This reduction would help to increase
the number of business and tourist visitors from
India in general, of course...
(Ind Lab)
[V]:...Once the UK starts doing international trade deals, a
number of countries will demand visa-free entry to the country as
part of the package—India is one example of a
country that has asked for that. Can the Minister explain how
this fits in with the points-based immigration system?
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
Extract from Commons
debate on the Summer Adjournment
(Wealden) (Con):...I turn now to another international
issue that touches us here at home but which unfortunately is out
of sight and out of mind. Our shops are stocked, our medicine is
here and our factories can work because seafarers make sure
freight comes our way, but unfortunately 200,000 seafarers are
stuck at sea because a number of countries, particularly
India and China, will not designate them as key
workers. So they have been working for months and years, unable
to get off their ships.
Guy Platten, from the International Chamber of Shipping, has done
tremendous work with the International Maritime Organisation to
put in place international plans to get seafarers off and home
and new seafarers on, but certain countries will not abide by
these new international norms, which unfortunately means that
seafarers are stuck, which is damaging their mental and physical
health. At some point, it will become critical to our supply
chains, too. The Department for Transport and the Maritime
Minister have done a tremendous job, but I am urging the Foreign
Office to use every diplomatic power it has to work with
countries such as India and China to put in
place crew changes to help our unfortunate seafarers...
(Walsall South) (Lab):...I do not have to remind right
hon. and hon. Members that this is an incredibly unusual time.
Many hon. Members mentioned covid-19, our local heroes and the
difficulties for people and businesses, including the hon.
Members for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey () and for Scunthorpe (). I have
to agree with the hon. Lady about the steel industry. My friend
played an
important role in ensuring that steel remained in Scunthorpe, and
I think my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (), when
that all broke, was in India trying to organise a
meeting with Tata.
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
