Osborne plotting to ditch foreign students from migrant figures
GEORGE Osborne has revealed he is locked in a major dispute with Theresa May over whether to strip out foreign students from Britain’s immigration figures.
The Chancellor told Mps yesterday that voters were concerned about ‘permanent migration’ rather than students who ‘come and go’.
He said there was now a ‘lively debate’ within government about whether to remove students from the figures.
Mr Osborne told the Commons Treasury committee: ‘ The public’s concern about immigration is about permanent migration, when people permanently or for many, many years come to live in the country – and of course students come and go and I think that’s a good thing.
‘The current way the UK calculates its migration numbers they are included, but if you talk about the Government’s commitment on reducing immigration I would say where that strikes a public chord … is where we are trying to reduce permanent migration.’
Almost 200,000 foreign students enter Britain each year. Removing them would make it easier for the Government to hit its target of reducing net migration to below 100,000. The move is backed by Foreign Secretary philip Hammond and Business Secretary Sajid Javid.
But it is bitterly opposed by Mrs May, who believes public confidence would be hit if the Government starts massaging down the immigration figures by removing such a major group.
Mr Osborne rejected claims his economic strategy relies on ever more migrants arriving in Britain. ‘It is mechanically true to say that the more people you have in the country, the higher your GDp. But that is not the same as GDp per capita,’ he said. But Labour Mp John Mann told him: ‘Your economic policy is predicated fundamentally on bringing in a significant number net of migrants … Why not just say we are open for business … that’s how we are going to generate growth.’ Mr Osborne replied: ‘I don’t accept that.’ ÷THE EU’s £2.1billion migrant deal with Turkey ‘lay in tatters’ last night as it was revealed only eight illegal migrants have been sent back there so far this year.
EU leaders agreed to hand over the sum, including £260million from Britain, in return for Turkey taking back failed asylum-seek- ers who have entered Europe through its borders. But critics branded the plan pointless as it emerged hardly anyone has gone back under existing pacts.
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European parliament, dismissed the money as a ‘bribe’ that would be better spent on securing Europe’s borders with more guards.
He wrote on website politico: ‘Our strategy to outsource our refugee crisis to Turkey lies in tatters.’ He also questioned plans to widen the re-admission agreement – in a deal to be signed by leaders on Sunday – to include non-Turks who have entered Europe via the country’s borders
In return, Turks will be entitled to travel around the border-free Schengen Zone without visas.