New official figures have revealed that fewer than 5,000 international students overstay their visas in the UK – contrary to the previous estimate of 100,000. The news comes at Home Secretary Amber Rudd has launched an investigation into the impact of international students on the UK’s society and economy. [1]

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP and the Green Party’s migration spokesperson, said in response:

“It’s extremely alarming that the Home Office can’t get its immigration figures right. In this instance, it appears to have massively over-estimated the number of international students overstaying their visas in the UK. This is important. The Govt has designed harsh policies to address an almost non-existent problem and alienated many promising students in the process.

Equally disconcerting is that the Government thinks now – months into Brexit negotiations – is the time to launch an investigation into the effects of international students on the UK’s economy and society. This comes just a month after it announced an inquiry into the impact of European migration on the UK.

You would have hoped that ministers were clear on these fundamental issues before launching their campaign for a ‘hard’ Brexit – designed almost exclusively to cut the number of EU migrants living in the UK.

If we’re to trust the Government to make fundamental political changes to this country, it’s crucial that we trust not just the figures it’s working from, but its judgment. This episode casts doubt over both, and the Government’s damaging commitment to a migration cap.”

Notes:

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41030304

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Jean has responded to the UK Government’s Building Our Industrial Strategy green paper.

You can read her submission to the consultation here. It focuses on the following key issues, which the current proposals do not sufficiently address:

• A 21st century industrial strategy must put climate change and resource limits at its heart.
• The strategy’s overarching objective should be the transition towards a sustainable zero-carbon economy that affords genuine and more equitably distributed prosperity to the country.
• There needs to be greater recognition of the potential of the green economy – for jobs and economic renewal.
• In accelerating the transition towards a zero-carbon future, innovations and transformation in three sectors will have the greatest impact. These are: energy, transport and buildings.
• A regional focus is needed.
• We need to create secure jobs, not just any jobs – and especially in those regions with high levels of insecure employment.
• A broader range of indicators of success is needed than GDP growth.
• Concerns about productivity need to be broadened to focus on improving resource productivity/resource efficiency and strengthening the ‘circular economy’.
• We need a central, strategic role for public funding.
• Brexit and our regulatory environment. The EU27 is the second largest economy in the world (after the US) and it is inevitable that UK-based industry will seek to trade with the EU27 on favourable terms. This will only be possible if our economy and regulatory environment is kept in step with the EU27. We need to keep pace with EU standards in a broad range of areas, such as environmental and emissions standards, product safety, energy efficiency, labelling and animal welfare. We need to maintain a clear commitment to the precautionary principle.
• We need a flexible migration policy.
• There is need to foster social partnerships, work with trade unions and include workforce participation in industry.

ENDS

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LONDON Euro-MP Jean Lambert has joined forces with the only female candidate to be the next President of the European Commission – German Green MEP Ska Keller – to call for the abolition of all university and college tuition fees.

Ms Lambert and Ms Keller – speaking in London after a YouGov poll revealed that only 41% of 17-21 year olds are planning to vote in the upcoming elections – were being hosted by the youth-wing of the Green Party of England and Wales, as it launched its manifesto ahead of next week’s election to the European Parliament.

Ska Keller, now 32, was one of the youngest MEPs to be elected to the European Parliament in 2009.

Ms Lambert, who is a member of the European Parliament’s cross-party Intergroup on Youth Issues, said: “Across the UK young people are really feeling the squeeze, and they’re fed up with politicians turning their backs on them.

“I’m here with Ska today to try to demonstrate that some politicians do care, and are calling for policies deigned to improve the lives of younger people.

“I hope everyone will vote next Thursday, and have their say on the future of Europe.”

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Speaking at a conference organised by the European Network of Migrant Women, Ms Lambert said that London would grind to a halt without the skills of the thousands of migrant women working as nurses, carers, teachers, office and shop workers, engineers and doctors – and in many other professions and temporary roles.

Migration brings net benefits to all Londoners, but the anti-immigration and poor labour market policies of some politicians means we all miss out on what many migrant women have to offer, she said.

“The reality is that the economy, in London and much of the EU, is dependent on migration, yet too many politicians seem to be arguing that we should make it harder for migrants, even those from the EU, to work here in the UK,” said Ms Lambert, who is also the Green Party’s Spokesperson on Immigration.

“In fact we should be welcoming the role that migrant workers – and especially migrant women – play in making our economy work.

“We need to make it easier, not harder, for women to use the skills and qualifications they already have: far too many are working in jobs which don’t match their skill levels, and there are practical measures we can take to address this at national and EU level.”

The conference, which brought together academics and policy-makers – including Jitka Markova, the director of Tower Hamlets young people and women’s centre The Arbour – saw the launch of a new series of pamphlets about how migrant women are seeking to improve access to employment in the EU.

The series includes pamphlets addressing some of the most common problems facing migrant workers abroad: recognition of qualifications, how to prevent de-skilling, and how to set up in self-employment abroad.

For more information about the European Network of Migrant Women, click here

For more information about The Arbour in Tower Hamlets, click here

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Speaking at a Brussels event to mark the International Day for Street Children, which takes place tomorrow (April12th), she said a global effort was needed to improve the lives and prospects of the estimated 700 million children forced to call the streets home – as many as 100,000 of them a year in London.

The Green MEP, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s cross-party Intergroup on Youth Issues, said: “A child runs away from home every five minutes in the UK – that’s 100,000 children a year – many of whom end up on the streets of London.

“Though many return home quickly, some don’t: and we know that however long a child is on the streets she is more likely to suffer violence and sexual exploitation, to become malnourished and suffer disease – with little or no access to healthcare – and to have their education disrupted.

“In many countries, it’s much worse of course, with children starting life on the streets.”

She added: “We really need a global focus on this: and the UN is the body to co-ordinate one. There is lots of good work happening on this issue, not least at EU level, but it really needs to be joined up. Our children, in London and around the world, deserve better.”

Campaigners say the International Day for Street Children is a platform for the millions of street children around the world – and their champions – to speak out so that their rights cannot be ignored.

They want the UN to adopt the Day – when the UN adopts a Day it gives the issue greater global exposure and increases pressure on governments to act.

You can add your support for the campaign by signing the petition.

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Speaking at the launch of a Brussels exhibition showcasing a range of education and training programmes in the country, Ms Lambert said EU-funding for education was a good news story for Pakistan and about Europe’s role in global affairs.

“The EU has at its heart a vision for peace and universal human rights: and this project is about delivering on that vision,” said Ms Lambert, who chairs the European Parliament’s Delegation to South Asia, including Pakistan.

“Not only will some 150,000 young people directly benefit from basic education as well as vocational training in skills such as solar power installation and maintenance, mechanical engineering and machine work for the garment industry, over 10,000 teachers and trainers will be trained, who will then cascade their new knowledge further into society.

“This in turn will help build a more resilient society, and, it is hoped, reduce the poverty and violence which is, sadly, still so prevalent in some areas of the country. It’s about the EU sowing the seeds of peace.”

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The teenage schoolgirl was awarded the EU’s top human rights award – the Sakharov Prize – for her work promoting education for girls.

Speaking as she received the award, Malala – whose autobiography ‘I am Malala’ has become an inspirational global best-seller – said we should judge a country not by its weapons or the size of its army but by its levels of education and gender equality.

The 16-year-old, who was shot – alongside two other schoolgirls Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramzan – by Taliban fighters last year for campaigning against a ban on girls attending school in her home, Pakistan’s Swat Valley, has been a tireless advocate for women and girl’s rights since she was just 11 years old.

London MEP Jean Lambert, who joined members of other political groups to nominate Malala for the 2013 Sakharov Prize, said it was well-deserved.

“Malala Yousafzi is an inspiration to all of us – and this prize is well-deserved.”

Ms Lambert, the capital’s Green MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s delegation to South Asia – which includes Pakistan – added: “Malala has been a tireless campaigner for the rights of women and girls, and for universal education, and it is fitting that the EU has chosen to honour someone working hard to eliminate the gender discrimination which, sadly, is so prevalent around the world today.

“This is a real step forward in entrenching the importance of investing in girls in the work of the European Parliament.”

“Ironically, in attempting to silence her, the Taliban have amplified her message.”

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London’s Green Party MEP will make her comments at the Social Europe Congress in Warsaw, which has been organised by two Polish trade unions, representing teachers and healthcare professionals, and the Polish Green Party.

The Congress will take place on Saturday, September 7th – the 10th anniversary of the Polish Green Party.

Ms Lambert, author of the European Parliament’s position on access to care in light of spending cuts – which calls for care budgets to be protected and an EU-wide ‘carers leave’ to be introduced – worked as a teacher in East London before her election to the European Parliament in 1999.

She will say: “Austerity measures are seeing spending cut on social services across the EU – and that is both morally wrong and economically short-sighted.

“Education, care and health budgets must be protected, and we need fresh thinking in service delivery, both to prevent the most vulnerable paying the price for the failure’s of the banking system and to ensure we have a healthy, strong, well-educated workforce to get our economy back on track soon.”

The Congress represents the first major collaboration between trade unions and the Polish Greens.

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A HAMMERSMITH project to help older Londoners gain the IT skills and confidence to combat age discrimination in the workplace is to close.

The ‘Third Age Foundation’, which has helped more than 6,000 people during its 20-year history, has decided to close its doors in the face uncertainties over future funding.

London’s Green MEP Jean Lambert joined Hammersmith and Fulham Mayor Councillor Frances Stainton at an award ceremony for the last batch of successful students.

Speaking after the event, Ms Lambert said: “It’s such a shame to see such a valuable organisation close its doors for the last time.

“Third Age has played a vital role in helping vulnerable and unemployed older Londoners back into the workplace – and I hope that other organisations will carry on this work in the future, and that Third Age’s financial backers, including the European Social Fund and London Councils will continue to support their work.

“As more and more councils cut their small grants programmes in the face of Government cuts to local authority budgets it is becoming harder and harder for small, community-based NGOs to secure the funding they need – and as a society we will need to take a long, hard look at the way this sort of group is funded in future.”

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The Green MEP also called for primary schools to teach problem solving, and to recognize that the arts, humanities, physical education and citizenship are as important as maths, science and literacy.

Ms Lambert, herself a former teacher, will make her comments at the launch of the Charter for Primary Education at the University of London Union tomorrow.

Speaking alongside children’s author Michael Rosen and National Union of Teachers’ Deputy Secretary-General Kevin Courtney, she will say:

“Primary schools have become obsessed with tests and surveillance of pupils’ ability to retain a number of facts and abilities in a small range of ‘core’ subjects like literacy, maths and science.

“Of course eventually passing exams in these subjects is important, but the focus of primary schools should be on offering a well-rounded education, and that means regarding the arts, humanities, physical education and citizenship as just as important – and recognizing that ‘play’ can be learning.”

“Michael Gove wants to take our schools in exactly the wrong direction, and he really must start listening the experts: teachers and the children themselves.”

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