Cameron's Indian signs welcome, but policy unchanged

By David Matthews. 'Change of tone' will not arrest falling student numbers, critics argue.
David Cameron's positive messages to Indian students have been greeted as a sign that he may be abandoning his "neutral" position in the battle between government departments over the issue of student migration, but others have warned that student numbers from the country will continue to decline without a change in policy.
During Mr Cameron's trade mission to India this week, where he was accompanied by seven university heads, he repeatedly stressed that there was no cap on the number of Indian students who could come to the UK, and that they could work in the country after their degrees if they found graduate-level jobs.
His intervention has been seen as significant, given the tussle between the Home Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills over the message sent to overseas students by the government's drive to reduce net migration. Read more...