The Home Secretary Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP this week proposed a series of measures to reduce net immigration in her speech to the Conservative Party conference.

In response to proposals concerning international students and employees Dr Mark Downs CSci FRSB, chief executive of the Royal Society of Biology said,
“Science is truly global and the UK plays its leading role at all stages, in education, training, and development of new ideas and technologies. There are immense benefits to the UK and to science of attracting and training good science students and researchers at our universities.

"Remaining open to and welcoming of talent, and seeing UK-trained scientists working in their home countries and around the world makes us networked, resilient and influential. It is vital that the process and outcomes of immigration reform should support and enhance rather than diminish the capacity and excellence of our science base.

“We will be working alongside the Biochemical Society, British Ecological Society, British Pharmacological Society, Physiological Society, Nutrition Society and others to seek the best outcome for UK bioscience and research and will be engaging with Government towards this.”

Read the text of the Home Secretary’s speech.