UCU calls on Labour government to protect international students

Responding to reports that the government's immigration white paper will contain proposals to force international students to leave the UK unless they get a graduate level job, University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady today (Tuesday 25 February) said: 

"This threat to further restrict international students' ability to live and work in the UK when higher education is already on its knees, is bad for the sector, bad for the economy, and bad for our standing in the world. Higher education is still one of Britain's last world-leading sectors and after years of Tory decline, Labour should be doing all it can to protect the sector, not engage in these acts of sabotage.  

"We need bold leadership for the UK's higher education sector to thrive in a globally competitive environment. This means abandoning the previous government's hostile environment policies which threatened our ability to attract and retain international staff and students."