Theresa May orders Home Secretary Amber Rudd to clampdown on number of non-EU workers and students coming to UK
THERESA MAY has ordered a new crackdown on the numbers of non-EU workers and students coming into Britain in a dramatic new bid to cut sky-high immigration.
Sources last night revealed the Prime Minister had charged new Home Secretary Amber Rudd with drawing up a new package of measures – across all visa routes.
One idea is to stop universities from marketing their courses as opportunities for students to work in Britain – and new measures to ensure students return home when their courses end.
The move came with Downing Street braced for the release of the latest set of official immigration figures tomorrow. Government insiders fear these will show net migration has hit a new record of more than 340,000 for the last 12 months – way above the 100,000 target.
Almost half will the new arrivals will be from non-EU countries.
News of a new crackdown was immediately last night welcomed by former Cabinet Minister and Brexit campaigner Iain Duncan Smith. He claimed Theresa May had always wanted to be “tougher” on immigration – but had been stopped by David Cameron.
He told the Sun: “She was always held back, by David Cameron and George Osborne.
“She wanted to be tougher but there were always people pushing against it.”
The Tories pledged to bring net migration to below the “tens of thousands” in 2010 – but the numbers have soared to 330,000 a year largely because of EU nationals exploiting free movement rules to head to the UK to look for work.
But Downing Street is also aware that the numbers of non-EU migrants coming to Britain – which the Government can control – have also begun to increase.
Net migration from outside the EU has averaged nearly 160,000 a year since 2011 – including more than 80,000 students.
A Government source said: “Control over the number of EU migrants will be a priority in the Brexit deal. But we are also working on a package to reduce further non-EU immigration across all three visa routes – work, family and students.”
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Whitehall insiders yesterday indicated that while Amber Rudd was drawing up the new proposals – Theresa May would retain overall control. “It will be centrally directed”, one said.
The move will spark uproar among big business and universities – who draw a huge amount of their funding from overseas students. Former Chancellor George Osborne sparked a Cabinet row last year by arguing for students to be stripped from the immigration target.
Theresa May refused and eventually David Cameron sided with the then Home Secretary.
Migration Watch have repeatedly urged the Government to crack down on students – arguing that many stay in the country when they finish their studies even if their visa expires.
Migration Watch chair Lord Green last night said: “While we wait for the outcome of Brexit negotiations, it’s essential that the Prime Minster sets further action in hand on non-EU migration which is half the total.
“The biggest source of migration from outside the EU is clearly students, very few of whom are recorded as going home. This is where action needs to be focused.”