Immigration: International Students

Lord Gordon of Strathblane Excerpts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

There has been a tier 4 visa pilot—that is possibly what the noble Lord is referring to—and we will evaluate its effectiveness. However, he actually makes a case for the fact that we welcome international students here.

[Lord Gordon of Strathblane (Lab)]

I jump back to the point made by the noble Earl, Lord Attlee: if we applied that logic, surely we would start to treat tourists as immigrants.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

A tourist should come here for a specified length of time, which is not usually a year and is generally under three months. When that stay becomes a year, that person becomes somebody who avails themselves of the infrastructure and public services of this country.