Partygate and the government crackdown on international students: old stories come up again

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Good morning. Does my time machine work? I’m just asking because I learned that Boris Johnson is under police investigation over possible lockdown breaches and there is a government crackdown on international student visas.

These old stories are new again – and they both have political implications worth considering. More on those in today’s note. Thank you as always for your messages: you can reach us at the address below.

Help me – what year is it? !

Boris Johnson has been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over fresh allegations he broke lockdown rules while Prime Minister. His ministerial diary revealed visits by friends to Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country residence, during the coronavirus lockdown period. My former colleague Henry Zeffman won the scoop for The Times, alongside Steve Swinford and Fiona Hamilton.

According to the Times, the allegations came to light because the firm’s office is funding Johnson’s legal advice as part of the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, which is why Johnson’s newspaper came into their possession and, therefore, in the hands of the police. The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing.

There are two important things to note here, politically speaking. The first is that it increases the chances that the Commons Privileges Committee will impose a penalty on Johnson that exceeds the 10 working days needed to trigger a recall petition and a by-election in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

The second is that it reminds Tory MPs how tired they were of the scandals and controversies that plagued Johnson’s government. (Remember it was actually a whole different scandal which triggered the ultimate end of Johnson’s premiership.)

All in all, it is a day that strengthens Rishi Sunak’s internal position and further strengthens his position at the top of the Conservative Party.

Path of least resistance

One of the reasons the Conservatives’ net migration target is highly undesirable in my view is that it distorts government policy, making it more draconian about forms of immigration it can easily control.

What drives the UK high net migration figures? Labor shortages in sectors ranging from health to agriculture. While the government could fill these gaps without increasing the number of people allowed to come to the UK, it would require spending a lot of money and time. The flow of refugees resulting from Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the arrival of people with British National (Overseas) status from Hong Kong have also pushed the numbers up. While the UK government aims to avoid repressions from China or attempts to reshape the world’s borders by force, none of these things are within the UK’s control.

What the government controls is who can – and cannot – come to the UK on a student visa. As a result, whenever the net migration target comes back into the news, the government responds by introducing new restrictions on student visas. He did it again yesterday. The UK will from next January ban most international students from bringing family members with them.

The big political issue here is that overseas student migration to Britain is a) popular and b) essential to university outcomes. It’s a symptom of a larger problem: what the government does on immigration has become completely divorced from its larger policy goals. If the aim is to run higher education as a thriving export industry that educates UK students alongside it, we are going to have high levels of net migration every year. If you want to get away from that, you have to make different choices.

But as it stands, we’re doing neither: we have a net migration target which is far removed from other UK policy targets and which encourages ministers to hit the levers relatively few that they directly control, even if it means restricting the forms of immigration that voters really like.

Now try this

Last weekend, on the recommendation of my boss, Alice Fishburn, I went to see Ground Meat Operationthe musical about the World War II operation of the same name.

This is an absolutely brilliant musical that is well deserving of the critical acclaim. that Sarah Hemming gave her. The production tells the story of the titular operation with wit, verve and a surprisingly versatile cast.

The fact that only five actors bring the musical to life feels like a magic trick, and all of them deserve every award possible. His run at the Fortune Theater in London was extended until mid-August, so you have plenty of time to go see it. You can get Alice’s roundup of the week’s top commentary and analysis every Saturday by by subscribing to our Opinion newslettersent Monday to Saturday.

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• Reeves embraces Bidenomics | Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will embrace ‘Bidenomics’ as a model for a Labor governmentclaiming that Britain risks being ‘sidelined’ unless it accepts that the rules of the global economy have changed.

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