UK faces EU student exodus

Thousands join anti-Brexit march through London

LONDON, Sept 9, (Agencies): Growing up in a small Italian farming town, Andrea Guerini Rocco dreamed of pursuing a career in economics in a big, bustling city.

Three years ago, he thought that city would be London. He did his undergraduate studies at the London School of Economics, earning good grades and working at analyst internships he was passionate about. He was able to afford the lower tuition for European Union students — half what other international students pay — and he didn’t need a visa to work and live in Britain.

Yet Britain’s vote to leave the European Union changed all that. When the country leaves the bloc in 2019, there’s no promise that the financial and immigration perks for incoming European students and workers will remain.

So after the Brexit vote, when Rocco was preparing to enroll in a master’s degree, he decided to move to Columbia University in New York instead. Tuition is pricy in the United States and he’ll need more paperwork — but at least there’s clarity. He knows what he’s signing up for and can plan ahead.

“If Brexit was not happening I would have stayed in London,” the 22-year-old said. “The university is great. I love LSE.”

He isn’t alone in having to reassess his plans. More than 60,000 EU students attend British universities, bringing in brain power and diversity for employers and more than 400 million pounds ($518 million) of tuition money with them each year. That’s on top of the 500 million pounds these British universities receive in EU funding annually.

This year, EU applications to UK schools dropped for the first time in at least five years, by 5 percent. More than 2,500 young, bright Europeans took their talents elsewhere, rather than face the uncertainties of Brexit. The British government has promised that EU students who started before Brexit will pay reduced tuition prices and that they’ll stay visa-free until 2019 — and that’s about all they’ve promised.

If the British government doesn’t

Six officers arrived, with four leaving shortly afterwards when calm was restored, the reports said.

The two who stayed on struck up a conversation with the Americans, who were visibly drunk, and offered them a lift home when they failed to find a taxi.

The women claim they were attacked by the officers once they arrived home provide clarity for EU citizens on visas and education funding, UK universities could lose over 1 billion pounds a year and some of their top students. That’s fewer bright minds staying and contributing to the British economy after graduation, innovating and producing — and paying taxes — in Britain.

Until the government tells young EU nationals what they can expect postBrexit, Britain’s education, financial and other crucial sectors may find themselves struggling to attract and retain the talent needed to stay competitive.

The Russell Group, which represents 24 UK universities, including LSE, Cambridge and Oxford, has repeatedly asked the British government to provide clarity for EU students, including assurances that they will be able to stay and work in Britain after graduation.

Some of the damage to Britain’s image as a welcoming environment seems to have already been done. Adrian Thomas, the director of communications at LSE, says some of the applicants he’s spoken to were spooked by the focus on immigration in the Brexit debate.

Felix Heilmann, who is starting his second year at Oxford, was at home in Germany last year as he watched the Brexit referendum votes rolling in. He was prepping for his first year and had been excited to start studying at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world.

But that excitement turned to anxiety about how the referendum would affect his tuition, immigration status and social experience.

“There was a very big feeling of ‘Am I still welcome?’” Heilmann said.

LONDON:

Assurance

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Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday calling on the government to “rethink and reject Brexit”.

A stream of protesters poured through Trafalgar Square and stopped to boo outside Prime Minister Theresa May’s Downing Street office before congregating at a rally outside parliament.

The self-styled People’s March for Europe comes ahead of a key

in the early hours of Thursday, with one raped in the courtyard and the other in the house.

The four are captured on video surveillance footage in the car. Neighbours heard no cries for help, the reports said.

The women were examined by hospital doctors, who noted one was still drunk and both were highly distressed, according to

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (2nd right), Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (2nd left), Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin (left) and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill arrive before the City Day opening ceremony on Sept 9, at Red

Square in Moscow. (AFP)

vote in the House of Commons on Monday night.

“Help! We’re trapped on a small island that’s been taken over by mad people!” read one sign held aloft above a sea of blue EU flags.

“Take back control from these clowns,” demanded a banner featuring photos of senior ministers, while another referenced the divorce negotiations, saying: “This best deal is the deal we’ve got!”

“There’s no good reason for leaving the EU — it’s all bad,” said Beverley Townsend, a 55-year-old from eastern England, holding up a sign calling for an “exit from Brexit”.

She and her husband Dave, both draped in EU flags, said they had been lifelong supporters of May’s Conservative party but switched to the pro-European Liberal Democrats.

“I don’t believe May listens to anyone, but we’ve got to do what we can to make the point that this will severely harm our country,” Townsend told AFP.

Dr John Wale, who works at Warwick University in central England, brought along his two sons aged 16 and 12, both of them holding up EU flags.

“It’s all so negative. Why would you throw away something that is so beneficial to appease the will of a few fanatics?” he said, adding: “The problem is there are more than a few.”

Louisa Paches, a 39-year-old Spaniard wearing a beret in the design with the EU flag, said she had lived in Britain for 13 years but was now thinking of leaving.

“I don’t feel welcome here,” she said, standing with her French partner and two young children, both of whom have British passports.

MPs will on Monday hold their first vote on a crucial piece of legislation intended to smooth Britain’s departure from the European Union.

The Repeal Bill would formally end Britain’s EU membership and transfer of around 12,000 existing EU laws and regulations onto the British statute books.

May’s government is expected to win the vote, but could face rebellions by pro-European members of her own Conservative party as MPs scrutinise the bill in the coming weeks.

La Repubblica daily.

There were no external signs of sexual violence, it said.

Each year, the Tuscan city hosts thousands of US students at some forty universities and countless language schools. (AFP)

Germany rejects Polish demand:

The German government said Friday that the question of paying reparations to Poland for World War II has been resolved for over 60 years and there’s no reason to reopen it.

Poland’s government said recently that Germany has a moral obligation to pay for the massive destruction of many towns and a large part of the country’s industry by the Nazi war machine.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman told reporters that while Germany “stands by its responsibility for WWII” it has already paid reparations to Poland.

Steffen Seibert said Germany also considers Poland’s relinquishment of further reparations in 1953, 1970 and 2004 to be legally binding.

Seibert said that “in our view this question has been completely resolved legally and politically.”

He added that Germany is grateful for its current good relations with Poland.

In Poland, the government’s plan to seek reparations met with opposition from the influential Catholic Church, whose leaders said that “ill-considered decisions and rash words” can easily destroy the “great value” that is the hard-won reconciliation between Poland and Germany. (AP)