THE Westminster government has rejected SNP First Minister John Swinney’s calls for a revival of a Scottish graduate visa scheme.
Mr Swinney had suggested that London and Holyrood could work together to deliver a policy to allow overseas students to remain and work in Scotland for two years after graduation, echoing the Fresh Talent initiative which ran from 2004 until 2008.
The suggestion was welcomed by UCU Scotland’s Mary Senior, who said: “Scotland led the way on post-study work visas 20 years ago.
“We’re clear that overseas students and workers bring economic, social and cultural benefits to Scotland, and so the introduction of a visa would be a significant positive development both for Scotland and Scottish higher education.”
The approach has however been rebuffed by Labour’s Westminster government, which said: “The Graduate Route already offers talented international students the opportunity to stay in the UK after successfully completing their studies.
“We continue to work closely with the Scottish government on areas where devolved and reserved policies intersect, but there are no plans to introduce a visa route specific to Scotland.”
COLL McCAIL rejects the Scottish Establishment’s attempt at an ‘elite lockout’ of Reform UK and says the unions should be wary of co-option by their class enemies in Holyrood just to keep one set of austerity-mongers in power instead of Reform UK
