May stands firm on students in migration statistics

THERESA MAY is set for a Cabinet showdown over migration after she made clear she intends to continue counting foreign students in immigration statistics.

Several senior ministers, including Boris Johnson, want students removed from the tally, which would help the Government reach its net migration target of tens of thousands per year.

But Mrs May stood firm when she was asked about the subject in China. 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 – something like 900 colleges can no longer bring in overseas students because all too often they were being brought in to work rather than for education. Once you see that abuse out of the system, students coming in for the period of their education and then leaving ... don’t have a long-term impact on the numbers.”

Other ministers who have called for students to be removed from the statistics include Philip Hammond and Liam Fox. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader who attends strategy meetings in Downing Street, supports the move.

Foreign students counted for around 70,000 of the 248,000 people included in net immigration figures in 2016.