Post-study Work Visas

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 24 March 2015.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Iain Gray Iain Gray Labour

The shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills, Liam Byrne, who was responsible for the introduction of the original UK-wide post-study work visa scheme, said that he wanted to see it being reintroduced in some form, although the conditions would not necessarily be the same. At the same time as he made that comment, he made it very clear that, as our amendment states, he would like students to be removed from any net migration targets—I say to Liam McArthur that we have called for that for a while. As there is only a short time for the current Government to respond to that call, I guess that it is indeed a statement of intent on what a Labour Government will do after the election.

The fact is that, if the principle of post-study work visas commands such widespread support in the education world, the business world and the political world, including this Parliament, surely the reintroduction of such visas is—to use a particularly inappropriate figure of speech—a complete and utter no-brainer, and something that we should do as quickly as we can.