THE COALITION government’s cap on immigration will jeopardise Britain’s future as a centre of excellence for scientific research, a group of Nobel prize-winning researchers said today.
The cap limits the number of skilled workers with a job offer allowed into Britain. It is a temporary measure introduced in June ahead of a permanent ceiling on migrants from outside the European Union to be set in April 2011.
“(The cap) would damage our ability to recruit the brightest young talent, as well as distinguished scientists, into our universities and industries,” the eight Nobel Prize winners wrote in a letter to the Times newspaper.
The scientists said international collaborations underlie 40 per cent of the UK’s scientific output and would become more difficult with the greater border restrictions in place.
“The UK must not isolate itself from the increasingly globalised world of research – British science depends on it,” they wrote.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said the government had held a consultation on how the limit should work.
“We will continue to attract and retain the brightest and the best people who can make a real difference to our economic growth, but unlimited migration places unacceptable pressure on public services,” he said.
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), whose head Vince Cable has been an outspoken critic of the migration limit, said it was working with the Home Office to make sure the cap was flexible.
“The UK has historically benefited from a net inward migration of research staff. The government recognises the importance of ensuring that the UK continues to be a world-leading place to do research,” a BIS spokesman said.
The scientists – winners of the Medicine, Physics and Chemistry Nobel Prizes over the last 14 years – included this week’s winners of the physics prize, Russian-born Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who are based at the University of Manchester.
The letter said the cap, a key Conservative election pledge which the Liberal Democrats reluctantly agreed to in a coalition deal in May, should be adapted to recognise the needs of science and industry.
“The government has seen fit to introduce an exception to the rules for Premier League footballers,” the letter said.
“It is a sad reflection of our priorities as a nation if we cannot afford the same recognition for elite scientists and engineers.”
