Catherine West MP MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Labour Candidate for Hornsey & Friern Barnet
Over 100 MPs signed a letter I wrote to Prime Minister Theresa May, urging her to drop international students from the net migration target.
On International Students Day, I warned the Prime Minister of the risks to the Higher Education sector if her Government does not remove international students from the migration target.
If we want our Higher Education sector to remain world leaders, the Government must drop the illogical decision to include international students in the net migration target. The numerical and anecdotal evidence all points in one direction: the huge benefit brought to our country by international students.
Students and academics remain dismayed at the Government’s insistence on keeping international students in the net migration target – and rightly so. Prime Minister Theresa May could easily change this rule with the stroke of a pen, but chooses not to in order to save face, risking the status of British universities and a valuable part of our economy.
A full copy of the letter can be read below.