The first of the two debates that Lord Bilimoria participated in Parliament yesterday discussed the impact that leaving the European Union would have on the UK’s universities and scientific research. In his speech Lord Bilimoria noted the successes that collaborative European research has produced and detailed the effect that Brexit would have on EU funding of scientific research, both directly and indirectly, while calling on Britain to remain outward looking.
In a wide-ranging interview, Lord Bilimoria spoke to Michael Skapinker, a journalist at the Financial Times, about his experiences as an immigrant in the UK, the evolution of Cobra Beer, the government’s immigration policies regarding international students, and the role of the House of Lords.
Yesterday, Lord Bilimoria spoke about the government’s planned proposals to increase productivity in the UK in a debate in the House of Lords. Titled: Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, the government’s productivity plan stressed the need for Britain to boost productivity and advocated a series of reforms designed to bolster long term investment and create a more dynamic economy. Speaking in the debate, Lord Bilimoria welcomed plans to make the UK more attractive to inward investment but lamented the lack of action that the government has taken on funding for research and development. He also quizzed the Minister, Lord O’Neill of Gatley, about the level of support that the government is providing to quickly growing businesses to scale up their operations.
Lord Bilimoria was recently interviewed by the Editor of UK Asian , Poonam Joshi, about the government’s approach to immigration. During the interview, he talks about his own experiences of immigration as an international student, notes the faults with the government’s current immigration rhetoric, and discusses the immigration policies that should be introduced.
Lord Bilimoria, Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, recently spoke about the need to invest in higher education in the UK in an article for the Telegraph. He stressed the discrepancy in funding received by US universities, compared to their UK counterparts, and argued that the neglect of Britain’s universities has contributed to the productivity gap currently facing the UK.
It was recently announced that Lord Bilimoria will succeed his long standing friend and colleague, Baroness Prashar, as President of the UK Council for International Students (UKCISA), the UK’s national advisory body for international students.
Speaking about the appointment, Lord Bilimoria noted the excellence of the UK’s universities on the world stage and praised the significant contribution that international students provide to our economy and to Britain’s society as a whole. As a previous international student to the UK, Lord Bilimoria is certainly well placed to represent the concerns of students travelling from abroad and he has vowed to represent all international students to the best of his ability.
Lord Bilimoria today wrote the following letter to the leading financial newspaper, City AM, critiquing the Home Secretary’s proposals to expel foreign students from the United Kingdom upon the immediate conclusion of their studies.
As former international student himself, Lord Bilimoria remains a vocal support of the rights of people to study in at British universities, as well as being allowed to remain and work in the country after graduation.
Lord Bilimoria has spoken out against the government’s higher education policy, specifically with regards to restrictions placed upon international students in the United Kingdom.
The following article was published on the New Statesman’s “The Staggers’ blog on Monday 1st September.
Founded in 1913, the New Statesman is one of the most well-respected current affairs magazines in the United Kingdom.
Speaking in response to the Queen’s Speech, Lord Bilimoria strongly criticised the government’s continued failure to reform the immigration system and to support international students and higher education failure to understand the tremendous economic and social values that international students bring to the United Kingdom, citing research by the National Union of Students, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, and the Judge Business School.
Lord Bilimoria also criticised the failure of the government to introduce exit-checks as British ports of entry, as well as the negative response to the mooted “Visitor Bond” system, which was scrapped last year after public outcry.