“I will nail my colours to the mast”: EU membership and immigration in the wake of the UK general election

“I will nail my colours to the mast now, of being very clearly pro-European. Higher education must work closely with industry to explain clearly the many benefits of full EU membership”

In a letter to UCL staff cross-posted here on The PIE Blog, UCL vice chancellor and former head of the Russell Group Michael writes about how the Conservatives’ shock majority win in last week’s general election will affect UCL and the UK higher education sector from an international perspective.

The opinion polls, we now know, were wrong. It seems around 3% of voters were telling the pollsters one thing, only to do another in the polling booth. I read an interesting analysis of this phenomenon at the weekend, but what does the result mean for UCL? While some of my thoughts will, of necessity, be speculative, the fact that we face a Conservative majority government for the next five years makes it easier to anticipate what is coming than would have been the case had the voters returned the widely anticipated hung parliament.

“A Conservative government does present some significant challenges to higher education with respect to issues such as immigration and also the proposed EU referendum”

A Conservative government does, of course, present some significant challenges to higher education with respect to issues such as immigration and also the proposed EU referendum. On immigration, we need to constantly remind government that bringing the best and the brightest to Britain to study or to work in our universities is of immense value to our nation. Immigration enriches our university, our city, and the country we live in and many that come will make a positive contribution to our economy through their ideas, enterprise and innovation. We have to work with Treasury and with Business Industry and Skills (BIS) to persuade the Home Office to understand the importance of immigration to our future economic success.

Against that background, it was with interest that I learnt that the new Secretary of State for BIS, announced earlier this week is Sajid Javid. He is the UK-born son of an immigrant of Pakistani descent. A worked example of the benefits of immigration in such a powerful position in government has to be of value in tackling this issue.

I have written before about the serious consequences for UCL if the UK were to withdraw from the European Union. The proposed referendum on EU membership is now definitely going to occur, towards the end of 2017 at the latest. David Cameron is allegedly going to attempt to broker a ‘new deal’ for the UK with the EU in advance of the referendum, but clearly there is no certainty of the outcome being positive. I will nail my colours to the mast now, of being very clearly pro-European. Higher education must work closely with industry to explain clearly the many benefits of full EU membership, not only to the way we function as a university, but to the nation more generally.

“Effective lobbying is best done largely behind the scenes, with politicians and their advisors and officials at multiple levels and across all relevant government departments”

My final thoughts this week relate to the amount of lobbying and influence that will be needed to help guide this new government in the right direction with respect to policies that ultimately help our higher education system remain internationally competitive. The one thing I learnt when I was Chair of the Russell Group is that there is no quick fix and that effective lobbying is best done largely behind the scenes, with politicians and their advisors and officials at multiple levels and across all relevant government departments. Persistent clear messages are essential. Occasionally it becomes necessary to take a strong stand in the public domain, but that must be used judiciously, as it may just simply entrench opposing views. Please rest assured that UCL’s voice and views will be heard as we address each of these future challenges.