Home Secretary signals change of direction on immigration
In a speech yesterday, 5 November, Home Secretary Theresa May announced proposals to limit access to settlement - or indefinite leave to remain - for migrants here for the purpose of study and work. The coalition govenment has also confirmed that it will not implement the previous Labour administration's plans for "earned citizenship", as an alternative path to British citizenship which was due to replace the indefinite leave to remain route in July 2011. May described the proposed changes as overly bureaucratic, which is probably true. However, it remains to be seen how successful the government will be in refusing settlement or whatever status replaces it to those who have spent several years - often with their partners and children - living in the UK.
In such cases, article 8 of the European Convention on human rights and fundamental freedoms (ECHR) invariably rears its head. The private and family life developed while working or studying in Britain is a factor the Home Office has to consider, in line with our international convention obligations. Appeals will follow refusals of leave, and the government will find itself battling to remove perfectly respectable families whose children may have spent all their school years in this country.
The Home Secretary also disclosed that she will drastically reduce the flow of 160,000 overseas students who come to the UK to study on below degree-level courses in further and higher education colleges. These changes have potentially catastrophic implications for providers of private education, notably English language colleges, and it is difficult to see how ending this source of foreign earnings will benefit the UK economy. By contrast, the Irish government earlier this year announced plans to encourage foreign students - English language students in particular - to come to their country.
The Irish Times reported at the time: The government has announced a new strategy aimed at increasing international student numbers in higher education by 50 per cent and in English-language schools throughout the State by 25 per cent by 2015. The five-year blueprint entitled “Investing in Global Relationships” envisages that the international education sector will be worth €1.2 billion per year to the Irish economy by 2015. It is currently worth an estimated €900 million annually. See their article at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0923/1224279502857.html