Theresa May slaps down Liam Fox after he re-opened a cabinet split arguing foreign students who come to Britain should NOT be included in official migration statistics
The International Trade Secretary said he agreed with Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond - and had raised his concerns with Amber Rudd
FURIOUS Theresa May slapped down her own International Trade Secretary today after he challenged her authority on immigration.
The Prime Minister panned Dr Liam Fox for publicly reopening a long-running Cabinet row by calling for foreign students to be taken out of the Government’s target to cut net migration to the tens of thousands.
He said today that there was an "ongoing argument" among ministers about whether students who come to study in Britain should count in official figures - and he had made his views clear in private.
In a withering response to her International Trade Secretary, Mrs May’s spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been clear over a number of years and a long period of time that international students should be included in official statistics.
“The Prime Minister’s position is clear: the international definition of a migrant is someone who has been here for over 12 months - whether they are a student or not. It is important to have this to plan who is coming into the country.”
But Dr Fox joins other top cabinet ministers Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond - who are on the opposite side of the debate. Last year the PM stamped them down.
Today the Trade Secretary told Peers that he sympathised with the views of his colleagues.
He told the Lords International Relations Committee: "I think there is a value for those who come and study in the United Kingdom. I 100% accept the point that they will be in many cases imbued by the values that they experience while they are here; many of them will go on to establish long-term relationships with the United Kingdom, understanding our institutions."
A senior Whitehall insider said Mrs May was now among a small minority in Cabinet who still wants foreign students in the target.
The Prime Minister is worried that ditching her long-standing position on the issue will be see as “fiddling the figures” after firmly opposing a change during six years at the Home Office, the source added.
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Peers on Monday issued a crushing defeat on the Government, by voting to end the widely criticised policy of including them in the Government's target.
Ministers have repeatedly said they want to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands - but the last set of migration figures showed more than 270,000 people came to the UK.
The February figures did show a 41,000 drop in the number of students coming to the UK for "long term study".
Today Dr Fox also advocated universities opening up satellite campuses abroad.
He told Peers that there were "huge opportunities" to export capabilities overseas.
He said: "It is one of the sectors in this country that shows the most appetite for being willing to do that and I think offers us huge opportunities to continue with that."
Meanwhile Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs today that the door on migrants would not “slam shut” once Britain leaves the EU.
He moved to reassure pro-EU MPs that the Government still wanted to attract talented migrants for all sectors in the country.
He told the cross-party Brexit Select Committee: “This is an issue of control. We’re not going to stop everybody coming.”
Mr Davis said the issue was control and ripping up free movement, “rather than numbers”.
And he added: “It’s plain to me that we have to run our subsequent policy to meet all economic interest. Not just scientists and bankers but seasonal workers too.
“The aim is to bring down the net migration but it won’t be done in a way that damages the economy.”