The UK's immigration crackdown will lead to a loss of international talent

By Sarah Mulley. Cuts to foreign student numbers mean a future Indian prime minister might end up studying in Sydney rather than Sussex. The government is making significant progress towards its target of reducing net migration to the UK to less than 100,000 per year. Figures published on Thursday showed estimated net migration down to 153,000 in the year ending September 2012 (from 242,000 in the previous year). But this has come at a cost – in their haste to meet the target, ministers have changed the rules to keep out migrants who can bring huge benefits to the UK. The decline in immigration has been driven in large part by falling numbers of international students. Focused on their target, it has made sense, at least in the short term, for ministers to focus on students, simply because they are the largest single group arriving in any given year (accounting for around 60% of non-EU immigration). Read more...