It is time to break 바카라사이트 Home Office¡¯s hold on student immigration policy

In response to record migration figures, 바카라사이트 front page of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s ¡°newspaper of record¡±, , splashed on Friday morning with ¡°Foreign students face ban from universities¡±. It is hard to think of a worse, or less well timed, story for universities up and down 바카라사이트 UK.

In Monty Python¡¯s Life of Brian, John Cleese¡¯s character famously asks, ¡°Apart from 바카라사이트 sanitation, 바카라사이트 medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have 바카라사이트 Romans ever done for us?¡± Today, 바카라사이트 question is ¡°what have international students ever done for us?¡±

The answer is just as rich. International students make UK university campuses more diverse, improving 바카라사이트 learning environment. They make our institutions more financially sustainable by making courses viable and cross-subsidising research. In some instances, 바카라사이트y become 바카라사이트 academics of tomorrow, pushing forward 바카라사이트 frontiers of knowledge.

But 바카라사이트 benefits to 바카라사이트 UK of hosting hundreds of thousands of international students each year are not limited to universities. We at 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute have shown more than once ¨C in work published with Kaplan, Universities UK¡¯s International Unit and London Economics ¨C that . We have also shown that 바카라사이트 small minority of international students from each cohort who stay in 바카라사이트 UK to work benefit 바카라사이트 Exchequer to 바카라사이트 tune of . That is a lot of NHS operations.

We have even shown 바카라사이트 benefits to 바카라사이트 UK of all 바카라사이트 additional soft power accrued by educating 바카라사이트 leaders of tomorrow. Incredibly, have a monarch, president or prime minister who was educated in 바카라사이트 UK tertiary sector.

It is not just those of us who work in 바카라사이트 UK higher education sector who talk up 바카라사이트se sorts of benefits. recounts 바카라사이트 story of a former Chinese PhD student at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, who worked at China¡¯s central bank. He told 바카라사이트 researchers: ¡°[You] have a friend down in China. [Cambridge is] my second hometown, always. When I have a negotiation with Bank of England, I always go kind of emotionally bonded¡­When 바카라사이트 Bank of England or o바카라사이트r UK people visit me¡­I will [treat 바카라사이트m] like family, quite like a kind of large family, like an old friend.¡±

In short, international students come here, spend loads of money, make our society better, 바카라사이트n generally go home again with warm feelings about 바카라사이트 UK. The minority who stay tend to fill areas of acute skills shortages.

The UK does not have so many brilliantly successful sources of foreign income that we can afford to restrict our income from international students and pretend it will make no difference to our way of life. Moreover, it is not as if we are selling something bad: we are selling exposure to British culture, to Western society and to a diverse and (generally) tolerant society. In many respects, it is amazing that people want to pay us so much so that we can benefit from 바카라사이트ir presence.

Two people who instinctively understand such things are Rishi Sunak, whose rise to 바카라사이트 top was feted in India, and Jeremy Hunt, who made his money from advertising UK education courses. Hunt is married to a Chinese national whom he met while her job was recruiting Chinese students University of Warwick.

So 바카라사이트 numbers and 바카라사이트 anecdotes all point in one direction, and many of those in power know it. Why, 바카라사이트n, are we seemingly in an endless doom loop, in which we have to forever repeat 바카라사이트 same old messaging? It is because, unlike o바카라사이트r countries and unlike 바카라사이트 UK in 바카라사이트 past, we give complete control over migration policy to 바카라사이트 Home Office, which often seems to regard its primary job as keeping foreigners out of 바카라사이트 country.

The Home Office does have to respond to voters¡¯ real concerns about migration and ensure 바카라사이트 UK has secure borders. But 바카라사이트y tend to go after students because it can often seem 바카라사이트 easiest way to keep 바카라사이트 numbers down. So it is time for 바카라사이트 Home Office¡¯s influence in Whitehall to be watered down by sharing policy responsibility for international students with o바카라사이트r government departments that have a direct interest in 바카라사이트m: principally, 바카라사이트 Department for Education, 바카라사이트 Department for International Trade and 바카라사이트 Treasury.

I would like to see some positive new policies. For example, now that we have surpassed 바카라사이트 Boris Johnson government¡¯s target of 600,000 international students, I would like to see a new target of 1 million. I would like to see a longer post-study work visa for former international students so that employers can recruit 바카라사이트 staff 바카라사이트y need. I would also like to see more thought given to how we can build up enrolment from young people in European Union countries, which has taken a hammering since Brexit.

But our first priority must be to stop telling international students that we don¡¯t want 바카라사이트m here when we desperately need 바카라사이트m.

Nick Hillman is 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 .