Government is set to delay release of VITAL immigration document
Getty Theresa May is currently dealing with the fine print on the rights of EU citizens who live in UK
Originally scheduled to be published last summer, the document’s release date will now be pushed back even further while the Government seeks advice from the Migration Advisory Committee on how best to overhaul the country’s immigration system. Theresa May is currently dealing with the fine print on the rights of EU citizens who live in Britain. The EU withdrawal agreement drawn up in December handles some of these issues but she is expected to spend time hashing out even more details with EU bosses. A spokesman for the Home Office said: “In December, we reached a deal with EU citizens rights and our priority now must be to agree the detail of the implementation period.”
Mrs May is also handling the contentious topic of whether or not to include the number of overseas students in the UK’s net migration figures. So far, she has made it clear that she will continue to resist pressure to remove overseas students from immigration figures. Critics argue that the inclusion of students – most of whom return home after their studies – has made it impossible for the Government to meet its self-imposed target of reducing net migration below 100,000 a year. Mrs May herself left no doubt during this week’s trade mission to China that she sees education as a key part of her Global Britain strategy to boost commercial links around the world after Brexit. Her first destination on the three-day trip was Wuhan in central China, little-known to most Britons but home to one of the country’s most prestigious universities and the largest number of students of any city in the world.
Getty Home Secretary Amber Rudd is opposed to students being counted in Home Office figures
There, she spoke to students about her ambitions to increase numbers of Chinese students in the UK – at about 150,000, currently the biggest contingent from outside the EU. But she told reporters travelling with her that she had no plans to change the policy of including students in migration statistics, which she has maintained through six years as Home Secretary and 18 months as Prime Minister, despite reported pressure for change from within her own cabinet. She said: “You won’t get a different answer from what I’ve said over the years. The reason students have been in the numbers is because it’s an international definition of a migrant. “It was important to look at what was happening with students in the UK when I was Home Secretary. There was a lot of abuse taking place in colleges.
Getty Mrs May is handling the issue of overseas students in the UK’s net migration figures