There are far fewer illegal student migrants than Britain thought
That error led to a needless, costly crackdown on universities
IN 2015 Sir James Dyson, an inventor and businessman, attacked Theresa May, then home secretary, over her plans to make it harder for foreign students to stay in Britain after finishing their studies. “Train ’em up. Kick ’em out. It’s a bit shortsighted, isn’t it?” he wrote. Not so, replied Mrs May. After all, the “latest surveys” showed that tens of thousands more students arrived than left each year. The implication: Britain already had more than enough foreign graduates hanging around.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “A costly mistake”
Britain
September 2nd 2017- The English are bad at playing football—but brilliant at selling it
- There are far fewer illegal student migrants than Britain thought
- Sterling’s depreciation has not led to an export boom
- As missiles fly, Britain offers Japan whisky and Aston Martins
- Divorce, European-style
- Kezia Dugdale steps down as Scottish Labour’s leader
- Can a murder that happened three decades ago now be solved?
- Theresa May v Britain’s managers
From the September 2nd 2017 edition
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Explore the edition
New data show that the class divide in Britain may not be so wide
They make the country look better than America
Comparing apples and oranges. And also small caged mammals
A biography of the British basket of goods
A Northern Irish factory has a deal to make missiles for Ukraine
But the first minister wishes it didn’t
ZOE, a British personal-nutrition app, is growing fast
But does it actually work?
Why apprenticeships are so rare in Britain
And why new ideas for boosting them could easily backfire
The thinking behind Labour’s benefits cuts
Liz Kendall has reversed a decades-long trend