Phillipson: international students make ‘important contribution’ to towns and cities, but no plan to lift Tory visa restrictions
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has defened the number of international students at universities, saying that they “have got an important contribution to make in our towns and cities” and “will be cross-subsidising the studies of students from the UK”, but said the government had no plans to remove the recent cap on numbers set by the outgoing Conservative government.
She told viewers of Sky News:
I do think international students have got an important contribution to make in our towns and cities. They’re part of the growth and the opportunities that will be available for the whole community. And our universities are a tremendous engine of growth in so many of those places, and I want to help them to succeed.
In economic terms, where it comes to the communities where they will live – Sunderland, where I’m the member for parliament – we have lots of students that come from around the world, often as post graduate students, that study and make a contribution.
But it’s also a big part of our reach around the world, the impact that we can have as a country, the business links, the trading links, the opportunities and the bridges that we build between nations. And I think education is just a force for good across our world, and we should recognise that and work together as nations.
Asked specifically “the visa restrictions for foreign students that the last government imposed right at the end of their government, we haven’t really seen the full effects of it yet. Should those be reversed?”, she said “We don’t intend to change that.”
Key events
The government has said that its child poverty taskforce met yesterday to start the work on its strategy, which it expects to publish in spring.
Co-chaired by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and education secretary Bridget Phillipson, the government said it will “hear directly from struggling families and children, frontline staff and leading campaigners, charities and organisations across the UK to shape the strategy.”
Kendall said “Child poverty is a scar on our society. It harms children’s life chances and our country as a whole. We will take action in every department, with a comprehensive strategy to drive down poverty and drive up opportunity.”
Phillipson said “this taskforce, working across government, is essential to ensure all departments are supporting this ambition and delivering on our mission of breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every child.”
The taskforce will be supported by a new child poverty unit in the Cabinet Office, the statement said.
Martin Kettle has written for us this morning that Keir Starmer made a mistake by cancelling his holiday, partly because of the precedent he has now set for the rest of his time in office. Kettle argues:
Everybody needs a holiday. A proper holiday. A break from routine. A chance to relax, and focus on other people and other things. Prime ministers unquestionably need such moments, too – perhaps more than most. Yet by first postponing and now, it appears, by cancelling his family summer holiday in Europe, Starmer has made holidays a reputational issue. Starmer the human being has lost out to Starmer the politician.
You can read more here: Martin Kettle – In cancelling his family summer holiday, Keir Starmer has made his first serious mistake
PA Media report that police investigating a disturbance last month at Manchester airport have passed a “comprehensive” file to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Video widely circulated on social media showed an officer kick and appear to stamp on the head of one man, then further footage emerged showing how the incident, in which police officers were also injured, developed.
One officer is under criminal investigation for assault in connection, while another has been advised they are also under criminal investigation for assault. Four men arrested on suspicion of affray and assault remain on bail.
The initial footage led to protests in Rochdale and Manchester city centre.
Reform UK’s Richard Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness, has repeatedly on social media demanded to know why charges are yet to be bought for the men arrested, implying it is an example of what he styles “two-tier policing” compared to the fast-track justice processing of far-right rioters and some counter-protestors who took part in violent disorder across England and Northern Ireland in recent weeks.
A further three people have been charged today after disorder in Bristol earlier this month, Avon and Somerset police said, and two more men have been charged in Merseyside.
Conservative politicians have seized on the latest GDP figures to suggest that Labour have inherited a well-functioning economy, and that the party is exaggerating the depths of financial mismanagement it is accusing the last administration of.
Shadow health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins has responded to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ earlier comment “We are under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited from the Conservatives after more than a decade of low growth” by saying “You inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first six months of 2024.”
Chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, has had no truck with this line of argument. PA Media report he told broadcasters in a clip:
The last Conservative government left this new Labour government with the highest tax burden since the 1940s, the highest debt burden for over 60 years and a huge cost for just paying the interest on that debt every single month.
And as the Chancellor and I set out in parliament a few weeks ago, they left us with over £20bn of bills coming through the door here at the Treasury with no money to pay for it. That doesn’t sound like a good inheritance to me.
Challenged as to whether Labour were attempting to put a negative spin on some positive economic news, he said “What we inherited from the Conservatives was the worst fiscal inheritance since the second world war. We’ve got much, much more work to do to recover from the mess that we are left with.”
Chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones has said the pay deal offered to train drivers was “good deal for the taxpayer”, because it was “resetting the relationship between government and public sector workers” and preventing strikes.
PA Media reports he said:
There is a direct cost to the economy if the strikes continue and we need to work together in partnership with workers and trade unions and business in order to get sustainable growth back into the economy. So this is a good deal for the taxpayer, it’s a good deal for the economy.
Andrew Bowie, the Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and shadow minister for veterans affairs is less impressed, posting on social media:
Making pensioners freeze, slashing services, cutting defence projects, increasing rail fares and raising tax all to fund inflation busting pay deals for trade union donors are political choices made by Labour. They are choosing to placate their union donors over everyone else.
Making pensioners freeze, slashing services, cutting defence projects, increasing rail fares and raising tax all to fund inflation busting pay deals for Trade Union donors are political *choices* made by Labour. They are choosing to placate their union donors over everyone else.
— Andrew Bowie (@AndrewBowie_MP) August 15, 2024
As Mick Whelan, secretary-general of Aslef has pointed out, the headline figure of the pay deal may be above the present level of inflation, but train drivers are not getting a rise at the level inflation was running during the years-long dispute with the previous Tory administration, which, he said, repeatedly refused to meet to negotiate a settlement.
Whelan: I believe Aslef members will vote to accept pay deal.
Aslef secretary-general Mick Whelan has said that he believes members of the union will accept the pay deal being put to them by the new government.
He told Nick Ferrari on LBC that it was up to the members but “from the feedback I’ve had so far when talking to my representatives, I believe this will go through.”
He told listeners:
The [last] government would not give us a pay rise in a political dispute created by the previous party. They didn’t talk to us for two years, and we were basically in a standoff position. Labour has come to the table, spoke to us very very quickly, wants to make the railways better for the traveling public, the taxpayer and the people who actually work within the industry, and we’ve been able to do a deal to resolve it.
Put to Whelan that the deal was inflation-busting and well above the current rate, Whelan defended the figure, saying that it covers a period when the figure was much higher. He said:
When inflation was 13.8% three years ago, we’re not getting that. When inflation was 8.9% for the second year, we’re not getting that … [the deal is] significantly below the inflation of the aggregated period.”
The interview end on a slightly jocular note, with Ferrari asking when the train drivers would be back at the table “for more cash”. Whelan, as you’d expect when pay is settled annually, said it would be at least “six to eight months” before the next round of talks began.
“Six months!” exclaimed Ferrari. “We’re not going through this again just after Christmas, are we? I haven’t got the strength man!”
“Neither have I,” Whelan replied.
Phillipson: private schools are business that can make their own choices about budgets and fees after VAT changes
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that “private schools are businesses that can make choices about how they manage their budgets” and that Labour’s well publicised plans to remove VAT exemption from schools fees were about driving up standards in the state sector.
Challenged on Sky News about announcements of private school closures ahead of the change in their tax exempt status, Phillipson said “I think what we’ve seen with some of the examples that have been discussed are schools that were already experiencing big budget shortfalls, weren’t attracting the numbers of students that they might like to attract, and that’s what’s driving what we see.”
She said:
Private schools are businesses that can make choices about how they manage their budgets, the level of fees that they charge, and ultimately, it’s about how attractive they are to families in terms of the numbers of students that are sent there. We have seen private schools in recent years whack up their fees year on year, way beyond inflation, and that has priced out lots of people.
Our plans to impose VAT on private school fees are about driving high standards in our state schools. We’ve got a big challenge at the moment in terms of recruiting and retaining brilliant teachers. I’m determined that we will crack that, that we will make sure that teaching is a great place for people to come and work.
We’ve already made progress in terms of the teaching pay award, that we were able to deliver, but we need to do more, and we do need to raise money to invest in our public services and to invest in our schools. And that’s my focus as secretary of state, making sure that we’ve got brilliant teachers supporting our young people.
The education secretary was also at pains to point out the small number of people affected compared to the state education sector. She told viewers:
I want private schools to be an option for those parents who choose to send their children there, of course, they will be able to continue to do so. I know the parents want to do what’s right by their children, and that’s absolutely as it should be.
But I would just gently point out that 93% of children in our country go to state schools. That’s where I’m determined to focus my efforts as secretary of state.
To tackle some of those big gaps that we see opening up where it comes to outcomes for our young people, making sure that the background that you’re from, the town that you’re born, doesn’t determine what you can go on to achieve.
And that does involve making political choices about how we raise money, how we spend money, and that’s what imposing VAT on private schools is all about, driving up standards in our state sector, where the majority of your viewers will send their children to school.
Phillipson says raising student tuition fees in England and Wales would be ‘unpalatable’
Speaking on Sky News, Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has refused to commit the government to either lifting or freezing the student fees cap in England and Wales. She said she was “looking at what the options around that will be”, but suggested that raising the cap would be “unpalatable”.
Asked “will you at any point in the five years ahead cut the tuition fees caps for domestic students?” she said:
I do want to ensure that we reform the system overall. I’ve been looking at what the options around that will be, and I hope at a later stage to be able to say more about that.
It had been pointed out to her that there had only been a £250 increase in the maximum domestic student tuition fee in the last 12 years, which had seen periods of rampant inflation and which was applying financial pressure to institutions.
Phillipson, who during the interview also pointed out that foriegn students paying higher uncapped fees were cross-subsidising students from the UK, said:
I do recognise the challenge, and I hear that message from institutions as well, but I think [raising fees is] a really unpalatable thing to be considering, not least because I know that lots of students across the country are already facing big challenges around the cost of living, housing costs. Lots of students I speak to are already working lots of jobs, extra hours, in order to pay for their studies.
Phillipson: Tory goverment had too much focus on ‘picking fights’ over education
Labour’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson has criticised the previous government for being “too focused on picking fights” over education rather than assisting the troubled university sector.
She told viewers:
[Universities] face lots of challenges at the moment, that is absolutely crystal clear, and that’s why I took urgent action, immediate action on becoming secretary of state, to refocus the work of the regulator, the Office for Students, on financial sustainability.
Because I think the last government were far too focused on picking fights and on suggesting somehow that university wasn’t for some people, rather than actually acting in the national interest to make sure that our brilliant universities, who are a beacon around the world and are so well respected, are able to succeed into the future.
Rishi Sunak’s government had been acting to cut down the number of what it called “low-value” degrees in England. Courses that did not have a high proportion of graduates getting a professional job, going into postgraduate study or starting a business were to be capped.
At the time the plans were announced vice-chancellors said the measures would act as a “red flag to students”, who would be turned off the idea of entering a capped course, while critics said the plan effectively penalised universities and courses with a high proportion of working-class students, who have fewer financial resources or family support and so are more likely to drop out.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that A-level results are expected to be “broadly in line with last year”. The results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are published at 9.30am, and you can follow that live with my colleague Rachel Hall …
Reeves says ‘economic growth’ is our national mission after GDP figures released
The chancellor, reacting to those GDP figures, echoed the messaging of her colleague Darren Jones yesterday about inflation, saying the government is “under no illusion” about the situation.
Rachel Reeves said:
The new government is under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited after more than a decade of low economic growth and a £22bn black hole in the public finances.
That is why we have made economic growth our national mission and we are taking the tough decisions now to fix the foundations, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.
UK economy continues recovery from recession with GDP growth of 0.6%
Richard Partington
Britain’s economy has extended the recovery from recession last year after recording growth of 0.6% in the three months to June.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show gross domestic product continued to grow in the second quarter, after growth of 0.7% in the first three months of 2024. City economists had forecast growth of 0.6%.
The UK has grown at a faster pace this year than many forecasters predicted. However, it comes after a lacklustre performance over the past decade, while high living costs, elevated interest rates, and faltering productivity gains keep a lid on momentum.
Read more here: UK economy continues recovery from recession with GDP growth of 0.6%
Phillipson: international students make ‘important contribution’ to towns and cities, but no plan to lift Tory visa restrictions
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has defened the number of international students at universities, saying that they “have got an important contribution to make in our towns and cities” and “will be cross-subsidising the studies of students from the UK”, but said the government had no plans to remove the recent cap on numbers set by the outgoing Conservative government.
She told viewers of Sky News:
I do think international students have got an important contribution to make in our towns and cities. They’re part of the growth and the opportunities that will be available for the whole community. And our universities are a tremendous engine of growth in so many of those places, and I want to help them to succeed.
In economic terms, where it comes to the communities where they will live – Sunderland, where I’m the member for parliament – we have lots of students that come from around the world, often as post graduate students, that study and make a contribution.
But it’s also a big part of our reach around the world, the impact that we can have as a country, the business links, the trading links, the opportunities and the bridges that we build between nations. And I think education is just a force for good across our world, and we should recognise that and work together as nations.
Asked specifically “the visa restrictions for foreign students that the last government imposed right at the end of their government, we haven’t really seen the full effects of it yet. Should those be reversed?”, she said “We don’t intend to change that.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Thursday. Here are your headlines …
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Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said foreign students make a huge contribution to the UK’s town and cities, but she has no plans to change recent Tory visa restrictions
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Phillipson said private schools are businesses free to choose their own budgets and set their own fee levels after VAT changes take effect
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Britain’s economy has extended the recovery from recession last year after recording growth of 0.6% in the three months to June. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was prioritising growth as a national mission
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The Metropolitan police is providing an inadequate or failing service in seven of eight key crime-fighting areas, and there are “serious concerns” about its management of dangerous offenders
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Train drivers and the Labour government have reached a deal that could end more than two years of conflict between rail operators and unions. Aslef’s Mick Whelan has said it believes it will be accepted by members
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Uncertainty over the future of Tata Steel in south Wales is already causing job losses in the broader industry, the Welsh secretary has warned
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Labour donor Ian Corfield was approved for a senior Treasury role without the civil service watchdog being informed of his donation history
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A-level, T-level and BTec results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are published today.
It is Martin Belam here again today. I find it helpful if you email me if you spot typos, errors or omissions – martin.belam@theguardian.com.