Who is the most powerful woman in government? For some, it is the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper. Next month, her department will publish a new White Paper, outlining its plans to curb legal migration. It is expected to make it harder for foreign students who come to the UK on graduate visas to stay here through taking low-paid jobs such as healthcare roles. Officials are reportedly exploring ways to close this loophole by setting a wage threshold for the types of jobs to which foreign graduates can switch. Cooper’s preference is for a time-limited visa regime for highly skilled workers in occupations where there is a shortage.
Inevitably, such changes will spark a chorus of protest. Whitehall turf fights now loom between Cooper’s department and Bridget Phillipson at the Department for Education. Universities UK – the main sector lobby group – has been straight out the gates, insisting it would be ‘madness’ to cut back the route, at a time when universities were under severe financial strain.
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