Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to Theresa May’s comments in today’s Sunday Times, said:

“Theresa May is flailing around with her immigration policy in chaos. Her net migration target is in tatters, illegal immigration and exploitation are getting worse, she’s given citizenship to serious criminals and the only answer she can come up with is a few more restrictions on the overseas University students who bring billions of pounds of investment into Britain.

“More does need to be done to stop people overstaying illegally when their visas run out - whether they arrived on student visas, work visas or tourist visas. But the answer to that isn’t to prevent highly skilled overseas graduates getting legal work visas to fill shortages in fields like science or medicine.

“Theresa May should be cracking down on illegal working, bringing in proper exit checks, and recruiting 1,000 more borders staff - as Labour has called for - to make sure visas are enforced. There should be stronger checks on student visitor visas for short-term courses which are more likely to be abused - something we have called for for three years. The Government’s net migration target treats all immigration as the same.

“Theresa May is good at ramping up the rhetoric on immigration but terrible at the sensible delivery of a system that benefits us all and enforces rules fairly.”

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to Theresa May’s comments in today’s Sunday Times, said:

“Theresa May is flailing around with her immigration policy in chaos. Her net migration target is in tatters, illegal immigration and exploitation are getting worse, she’s given citizenship to serious criminals and the only answer she can come up with is a few more restrictions on the overseas University students who bring billions of pounds of investment into Britain.

“More does need to be done to stop people overstaying illegally when their visas run out - whether they arrived on student visas, work visas or tourist visas. But the answer to that isn’t to prevent highly skilled overseas graduates getting legal work visas to fill shortages in fields like science or medicine.

“Theresa May should be cracking down on illegal working, bringing in proper exit checks, and recruiting 1,000 more borders staff - as Labour has called for - to make sure visas are enforced. There should be stronger checks on student visitor visas for short-term courses which are more likely to be abused - something we have called for for three years. The Government’s net migration target treats all immigration as the same.

“Theresa May is good at ramping up the rhetoric on immigration but terrible at the sensible delivery of a system that benefits us all and enforces rules fairly.”