Harmful Tory immigration policies must stop, says Labour MSP

Responding to the news that foreign postgraduate students on non-research courses will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK due to new UK Tory immigration curbs, Foysol Choudhury MSP said: “The recent news from the Tories at 10 Downing Street is that foreign postgraduate students on non-research courses will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. 

“This is disappointing news for Scotland which could hinder the Scottish economy. 

“Suella Braverman, UK Home Secretary, says that this policy “strikes the right balance” between bringing down migration and “protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK”.

“In fact, not only could these policies hurt the economy in the future and damage the talented pool from which we can draw on to fill roles, but harmful Tory immigration policies could continue to fracture relationships between migrants to the UK and existing communities.  

“I’m incredibly concerned about reports suggesting that some in the UK Government wanted to go even further and ban the dependants of all postgraduate students, including those on research courses. 

“We run the risk of discouraging talented postgraduate students from coming to the UK at all. 

“If their families are not welcomed by the UK Government, they might choose to take their talent and knowledge elsewhere, both potentially damaging the economy in the long-run and contributing further to the dangerous rhetoric on immigration which we have sadly seen all too often come out of 10 Downing Street recently.  

“It is time to create policies that allow our communities across the UK to diversify, flourish and be enriched by the multitude of perspectives, skills and knowledge which migrants in our country offer. 

“We cannot allow harmful policies like this divide us even further. 

“The Scottish Government should enter into urgent talks with the UK Government to ensure that international students in Scotland are not further impacted by disruption to their studies and are instead made to feel welcome and valued.”