Business leaders have called on prime minister Rishi Sunak not to be pressured into altering the graduate visa route
Several business leaders have put their names as signatories in an open letter to the prime minister, which warns the government against meddling with the graduate visa route to curb net migration.
The letter recognises the Tories’ industrial strategy, which is built on the UK becoming a more competitive place for research and innovation. But the government has also announced plans that have the potential to make it much harder for foreign students to study in the UK.
The letter states that the university sector is one of the UK’s greatest strengths, but the signatories – which include the UK and Ireland CEO of Siemens, the chairman of Anglo American, EDF Energy’s director of strategy corporate affairs, and Ray Tinto’s global head of innovation, science and technology – argue that changes to the graduate visa route could put this at risk.
The letter states: “We choose to invest in the UK because of the talent, skills and innovative ideas that can be found here. We are deeply concerned by reports of growing research and teaching funding gaps, as well as sharp declines in international student applications as a result of government policy. This not only risks undermining the positive impact that international students have on our skills base, future workforce and international influence, but also reduces the funding that universities have available for their wider activities, including research and collaboration with industry.”
The signatories called on Rishi Sunak to enable the UK to deliver a positive and ambitious higher education strategy supported by government funding and a policy framework to encourage the development of a more knowledge-intensive economy. They urged the prime minister not to make changes to the graduate visa route without a detailed and comprehensive review of the consequences.
“Over time, financial pressures could undermine one of the UK’s greatest strategi