Immigration panic ‘puts off overseas students,’ warns Vince Cable
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Public “panic” over immigration is causing harm to the economy, the Business Secretary has warned.
Vince Cable said overseas students were being deterred from studying at British institutions and tight visa controls were causing difficulties for foreign experts working here.
Overseas students were being caught up in the “very torrid and emotional” argument about the number of immigrants, he said.
Official figures just released reveal that, in the year to September 2012, net migration fell, with a 22 per cent decrease in the number of foreign students.
Mr Cable said: “When the numbers decline, this is a great triumph for immigration control, which is quite absurd and, unfortunately, is seriously distorting the debate on sensible university policy and, indeed, sensible immigration policy.
“I just want to make absolutely clear, as far as the Government is concerned, we have no cap on the number of overseas students, we don’t propose to introduce one.”
There had been a “substantial” reduction in the number of Indian students, he added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments