[Tubby Isaacs]

I'm baffled as to why this government and the Tory one before think there is anger out there about foreigners coming over here to pay for a higher education.

This has had some attention.

https://morgansmithimmigration.com/uk-s ... nt-debate/

Recent data indicates that approximately 60% of current Graduate Visa holders earn less than £30,000 per year, prompting concerns about the route being underutilised for high-skilled employment.

I assume the students will still be welcome but will either be expected to depart quickly or get a higher paid job than many are now. I don't know how much this will affect the number of students.

[The Weeping Angel]

Maybe they should hire Stephen Bush as a policy advisor, he seems to have all the answers, or at least he thinks he does.

Does he know that Australian Labour already conceded a lot of the Kipper stuff on refugees?

That doesn't look like a "blitz" so much as one policy announcement that's been scheduled for a while. I'm trying to understand the issue, but seems like these visas allow people to work for two years after graduating without a job offer. Is changing that to saying they need to find a sponsor within a certain period or have to earn a certain amount going to make that much difference?

But I can see why the universities wouldn't like it. I think this is where they'd be better off being back under Business, seeing the argument for universities (as in that article) tends to be put in terms of business.

Well, I work for a university, so I guess I should be unhappy about this. Stupid question, but how does doing this whack up inflation?

[Tubby Isaacs]

I think Bush is referring to Biden losing because of inflation, not to this policy doing it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That article manages to get "immigration blitz in response to Reform" out of "white paper already planned might have this in it". Someone pointed out BTL the other day how wildly divergent the perceptions of Labour on immigration are, from the Farage "open borders" stuff to lots of Guardian BTL people who think they're worse than Farage. The Guardian certainly doesn't help any sort of moderation on the issue.

Immigration is, to some extent a numbers game now, but the other way of looking at it is that the government (which hasn't mentioned a cap) is trying to do what it says it is- prioritize areas where there are shortages and higher earners. There are trade offs with other things, of course.

[Tubby Isaacs]

From the editorial.

One of Mr Farage’s most potent lines of attack is that Labour, having campaigned on pledges to be different, are revealed as just more of the same. That lament is echoed by voters who abhor Reform, despaired of the way Conservative prime ministers danced to Mr Farage’s tunes and hoped a Labour prime minister might change the record. If Sir Keir cannot soon demonstrate that his government has an agenda to transform Britain for the better then truly no seat will be safe for his MPs.

This is "why hasn't Labour fixed it in 9 months, and made somebody else pay for it". We're on 6 weeks into the first budget period. That seems to me to be pretty "soon".

It's one thing to call out the bad policies (benefits, most obviously) but indulging this sort of stuff is a poor show.