Rumour has it...
David Cameron's plans to cut the number of immigrants from around
190.000 to the "tens of thousands" has stirred much debate. The
English university sector was appalled given that this would
severely impact the number of foreign students entering
the country. A renowned think tank warned that this would come at a price tag of
over €7.4 billion - quite a dear election promise in times of
austerity.
U-turn rumor is nonsense
Rumor had it that in the recent days Cameron was considering a
U-turn on this policy, giving into his liberal coalition partner
and extensive lobbying on behalf of universities. According to
Times Higher Education immigration minister Damian Green has now declared this rumor as nonsense.
Green argues that students would also use public services and
"trying to define our way out of the problem of uncontrolled
immigration is wrong." To realize the target of reducing net
migration to under 100,000, "we will need a reduction in student
visas," Green said.