Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to speak in today’s debate on a key issue for our universities, research community and economy. It is unwelcome, and indeed ridiculous, that it is an issue in the first place. On 7 November last year, we debated the safeguarding of Scotland’s research collaborations in the light of Brexit. It is regrettable that the concerns that were raised then have been largely ignored.

On that occasion, I quoted Einstein, who said:

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”

I fear that the intervening months have seen evidence stack up further of the stupidity of Brexit in general and its management by the Tory Government in particular.

We have been told that freedom of movement would end on 31 October, then that it would not. Parliament is suspended, the Prime Minister is in apparent defiance of the law and the uncertainty that we talked about in November is now exponentially greater.

A recent report from researchers at Robert Gordon University highlighted starkly that the uncertainty surrounding immigration status after Brexit is already having a detrimental impact on the mental health and wellbeing of EU citizens. That shameful situation has been created by the incompetence of the Tory party and will contribute to the problem that Mr Swinney described a moment ago of the unattractiveness of this country as a place for EU citizens to choose for their lives and work.

There can be no doubt that our higher education sector and our scientific research community are world leading. Despite the fact that the sector has faced Scottish Government cuts of around 11 per cent and high levels of uncertainty due to Brexit, it continues to produce world-class and groundbreaking research in all areas. From humanities to artificial intelligence and from medicine to engineering, researchers in Scotland’s institutions lead the way, and we must do all that we can to allow them to continue to do so.

There can be no doubt that the sector is massively underpinned by the contribution of staff and students from the EU and beyond. The briefing that Universities Scotland provided for the debate tells us that more than 10,000 of our university staff are non-UK nationals and that 47 per cent—almost half—of university staff who work on research alone are from overseas. More than 54,000 of our students are international. Most of them are from beyond the European Union and are therefore critical to the income of our institutions, to say nothing of the international reputation of our higher education sector, of which we are so proud.

In the United Kingdom, we should strive to create a welcoming and open environment for the next generation of researchers and students. Instead, there is little doubt that the arbitrary and punitive salary thresholds, the bureaucracy and the cost that are associated with proposed immigration changes will harm the workforce and the ability of our research community to attract the skills that it needs in what is a transient and mobile global sector. Meanwhile, we have the threat of a no-deal transitional scheme that, as the minister pointed out, fails to notice that Scottish degrees are four years long and so will leave students unsure whether they will be able to complete their studies. That is perhaps the worst example of the stupidity that, frankly, seems to be the Tory Government’s specialist subject.

Already, our higher education institutions often find that the existing immigration policy is not fit for purpose. I will mention a specific problem in that regard. Scotland has a rich and diverse community of PhD students. Those people deserve the chance to work in our institutions and to take full advantage of the opportunities that are available to them. However, currently, social science PhD students who are in Scotland on a tier 4 visa cannot take up internship opportunities that are provided by the Scottish graduate school of social science due to working hours restrictions and the Scottish Government policy on hosting them. There has been some discussion between the Governments on changing that, but I would be grateful if the minister could perhaps use a moment of his time to address the issue so that all our postgraduate researchers can get involved in contributing their expertise to organisations across the country.

If the current approach to immigration is not fit for purpose, what confidence can we have in any new immigration bill that comes forward? Universities Scotland and Universities UK would tell us that the new immigration bill ought to be an opportunity to create a system that works for the higher education and research sectors, that supports PhD recruitment, that attracts the most highly skilled researchers and that allows flexibility for research collaborators. However, the truth is that, deal or no deal, we can have no confidence that the current UK Government understands that, desires such a system or is capable of delivering it. Instead, as with so much of the Brexit shambles, the Government stokes worry and uncertainty daily, and this Parliament must stand four-square against that.

Our view is that the best deal for higher education, as with so much else, would be to remain in the European Union. The Conservative amendment suggests that that outcome is no longer possible, which is why we cannot accept that amendment, no matter how much sympathy the Conservatives may have with some of the other issues that the minister raised. That is why we will back the Government motion at decision time this evening.