Keir Starmer launches new immigration crackdown with tax on thousands
Thousands could face a controversial tax and tighter visa restrictions under a new immigration white paper launched by Sir Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister's proposals were unveiled as part of Labour's bold bid to curb rising migration figures.
They include a plan to force overseas graduates to leave the UK within 18 months unless they land a skilled job - instead of the current two-year post-study period, The Express reports.
READ MORE: State pension and DWP benefit payments to see key date change
Universities also face a six per cent levy slapped on each foreign student's tuition fee, which would be the first tax of its kind on international learners.
The Home Office published the white paper, which outlines a sweeping shake-up of the current system.
According to early estimates from Universities UK, the financial impact of the levy could cost universities around £600 million.
The plan could "jeopardise" the financial future of Britain's higher education system, senior university figures have warned.
It's thought courses like medicine and dentistry, which are already costly to run, could be hit the worst as they are often heavily subsidised by income from international students, meaning any drop in funding could pose serious risks.
However, the government has insisted that proceeds from the levy would be reinvested to boost opportunities for British students.
According to early projections, the plan could lead to 7,000 fewer student visa applications each year and 12,000 fewer graduate visa applications annually.
Concerns have also been raised over quality, with officials noting that while student visa numbers jumped 49 per cent between 2021 and 2023, visas for top 100-ranked UK universities actually dropped by seven per cent in the same period.
International students brought in £10 billion to the UK economy through tuition fees alone in 2023-24.
Fees for non-EU students can range from £20,000 to more than £41,000 per year, while EU students pay between £9,600 and £14,000, depending on course type.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, warned that, for instance, a course like veterinary medicine costs around £20,000 per student, with nearly half funded by international student fees.
She said: "We'd like the government to explain to us how it will make it easier for us to provide opportunities for UK students to do those high-cost subjects if they're taking some of that cost."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Moment 'Russian spy offers sensitive information about Grant Shapps to undercover British agents posing as Putin's cronies' is shown to jury
This is the moment a man accused of being a Russian agent appears to offer sensitive information about a former defence secretary to UK spooks posing as Putin 's spies. Howard Phillips, 65, is on trial accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service after he allegedly passed a USB stick containing information about Grant Shapps to British undercover police - who he believed were agents working for Russia. Phillips, of Harlow in Essex, denies the charge, claiming he had initially written to the Russian embassy to 'expose Russian agents' to help the Ukrainian war effort. Video shown to the jury at Winchester Crown Court today appears to show the moment Phillips greets the fake spies outside a Costa coffee shop in May 2024. Jurors also saw video of an April 2024 meeting at the London Bridge Hotel in which he allegedly 'offered his services' to foreign spooks. Father-of-four Phillips, described by his ex-wife as 'dream(ing) about being like James Bond ', is alleged to have forked over a digital storage device to his 'handlers'. This contained Mr Shapps' personal information, including his home address, telephone number and the location of his private plane, prosecutors say. He had allegedly teased the faux Russians with the promise of 'something interesting' about the ex-defence secretary, who was in the hot-seat from August 2023 until the end of the most recent Tory government last July. Footage of the conversation shows Phillips telling them that he retired from insolvency five years prior and went travelling, visiting cities including Moscow. Phillips said that he then found himself in a position 'where now I need to be earning money'. He told the 'agents': 'I do not want and cannot for myself go back into the normal nine-to-five office. It's not for me, it never was for me, but I did it.' Describing how he first decided he would like to work with the Russian Intelligence Service, he said: 'I was thinking, I have to do something, I have to earn money, what can I do and I came up with all the things I don't want to do. 'I was thinking about, funnily enough, I was thinking about maybe, going away on holiday. I thought about Moscow. 'Its just a thought process and I suddenly thought, maybe I can offer services. I get what I want and you get what you want.' Phillips told the agents: 'We all help each other and we look after each other, we become a family.' On May 9, 2024, Phillips met with 'Dima' at a Costa Coffee in a retail park in West Thurrock, Essex. Footage from the meeting shows him asking: 'What do you know about the, um, Secretary of Defence in the United Kingdom?' Phillips had told the officer 'I have something, I don't know if you want it or don't want it'. He continued: 'Because, I have personal information which may be useful. 'So I know his home address, I know his home telephone number and I know where he has his private plane. Maybe it's of interest, maybe not.' When asked by 'Dima' how he knew this information, Phillips said: 'Because, about five years ago, I was invited to his house with a lot of other people. 'He was the MP for Welwyn Hatfield. The local MP. And then, he became chairman of the Conservative Party and now he's Secretary of Defence.' Phillips was asked if he 'knew' Shapps, and in response he said: 'Just a little, you know, we've met three times, I think.' In the clip, Phillips also encourages using the code word 'mother' to replace 'Moscow'. The court has heard Phillips was due to start a job with Border Force at the time. His ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, said he had fantasised about being a spy, and once wrote to Arsenal saying he wanted to be manager, despite being unqualified. She told the court he was "kind, caring man, a good friend, a good dad" - but 'not a great husband'. On Thursday afternoon the jury retired to begin considering its verdict. Phillips denies the offence of engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service, in breach of the National Security Act.
Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
Japan, EU to explore joint rare earths procurement, Nikkei reports
July 17 (Reuters) - Japan and the European Union will consider joint public-private partnerships as they look to reduce their reliance on China in areas such as the procurement of rare earths, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday. As China, the dominant supplier of rare earths, tightens export controls, global manufacturers are concerned that Beijing's decision to curb exports of rare-earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could slow production and disrupt supply chains. Japan and the EU will launch a new "economic two-plus-two" dialogue to bring together their foreign and economy ministers, expected to be announced at the Japan-EU leaders' summit scheduled for July 23, according to the report. The framework will seek to further deepen Japan-EU relations, it said, adding that the parties agreed to the new dialogue at the working level and will use the initiative to jointly develop supply chains for critical minerals such as rare earths.
ITV News
9 minutes ago
- ITV News
50 Years On: The Death Sentence, the Dictator, and the Cardiff Pool
It's 50 years since one of the more surreal moments in British diplomatic history: a tense international standoff that brought together a British lecturer, an infamous dictator, and a swimming pool in Cardiff. It was July then, Uganda was ruled by one of the most feared tyrants of the 20th century: Idi Amin. A former British colonial soldier, Amin had seized power in a military coup and declared himself president. His rule quickly descended into brutality. Known for his erratic behaviour and self styling as the 'Last King of Scotland,' Amin turned Uganda into a police state marked by mass killings, disappearances, and persecution. Living in Uganda at the time was Denis Hills, a British academic and writer. Hills had written a book in which he criticised Amin. Furious, the dictator had Hills arrested and charged with espionage. He was sentenced to death by firing squad, and suddenly found himself the centre of an international diplomatic crisis. Enter the third figure in this extraordinary story: Jim Callaghan, then Foreign Secretary and Cardiff MP. Initial diplomatic approaches had failed. Amin, ever theatrical, issued a chilling ultimatum at a press conference:'If the Foreign Secretary is not here ten days from tomorrow, we will then consider when to execute Hills by the firing squad.' Callaghan later said he 'risked his reputation' by agreeing to go. Prime Minister Harold Wilson warned him that he was moving too fast, acting without enough caution. But Callaghan went. What happened next - nobody could be the room came the huge figure of Idi Amin, there to meet him, the man dubbed as 'farmer Jim'.Amin walked up to the Foreign Secretary and immediately gave him a bear hug. His first words?'When I knew you came from Cardiff, I decided I was going to release Hills to you.' A transcript of that meeting, rediscovered 50 years on, reveals the dictator's peculiar fondness for Wales. Amin reminisces about visiting Cardiff during his time as a soldier in the British "You come from Wales?" Callaghan: "Yes" Amin: "I like it very much, very green. When I was in England, I spent my weekends there.." Callaghan: "Did you really?" Amin: "Yes, I like it very much. Cardiff I've been there." Callaghan: "Very glad to hear it" Amin: "You have a swimming pool there" Callaghan: "Did you ever try it?" Amin: "I swam there in 1964, August." The conversation, surreal in tone given the life or death stakes, drifts into talk of Wales. Amin affirms his love of Wales, saying he would spend his weekends in the country, admiring how green it is and the friendliness of the people. Asked by Callaghan if it reminds him of Uganda, Amin says it does. Later, posing for photographers with his son, Amin points at him saying to Callaghan:'He will come to Wales.'Callaghan smiles: 'I will teach him Welsh.' With that Hills and Callaghan would leave for the three men would have very different fates. Jim Callaghan would go on to become Prime Minister. Idi Amin was overthrown in 1979 and fled into exile. He died in Saudi Arabia in 2003 - unrepentant of his rule in Uganda. As for Denis Hills, he returned to Britain a reluctant celebrity. He continued to write and lecture, though he largely retreated from the spotlight. He died in 2004, aged 90. His story, and the bizarre twist of history that tied Uganda to Wales, remains one of the strangest episodes in British diplomacy. A moment where a swimming pool in Cardiff may have helped save a man's life, all because a dictator used to swim there.
