Boris Johnson has been accused of a “marketing gimmick” after unveiling a new visa to attract top brains to the UK after Brexit.
The PM will launch a ‘Global Talent’ scheme to attract the world’s leading scientists, researchers and mathematicians.
He will boast it has a fast-track application system and no cap on the number of people who can enter the UK.
But the visa it is replacing already offers some applicants a fast-track option and has never hit its cap of 2,000 people.
Lib Dem Home Affairs spokeswoman Christine Jardine claimed: “This announcement is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
“Changing the name of a visa and removing a cap that’s never been hit is not a serious plan.”
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She called for an urgent clarification for the rules on millions more families who will not be able to use the special visa.
The new visa will come with £60m a year in cash to double funding for new PhDs and boost the number of maths fellowships.
It will replace the current Tier 1 Exceptional Talent route, which was used successfully by 550 people in 2018/19.
The Home Office said the new system will widen eligibility and offer more people a fast-track process – as long as they are endorsed by a relevant UK body.
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
It comes after the Home Secretary announced the number of eligible fellowships which offer accelerated endorsement for visas for scientists wanting to conduct research in the UK would double from 62 to more than 120.
UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive Professor Sir Mark Walport said the visa would “underline the importance of research and innovation to the future success of the UK”.
Ahead of a visit on Monday to celebrate the new visa, Boris Johnson added: “As we leave the EU I want to send a message that the UK is open to the most talented minds in the world, and stand ready to support them to turn their ideas into reality.”
The changes are set to come into effect on February 20.
It comes as the Migration Advisory Committee prepares to report this week on plans for the Tories’ new points-based immigration system and immigration cap for the UK.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said British businesses have been “far too reliant on low-skilled and quite frankly cheap labour from the EU” and the Government thinks it is “about time” that businesses “started to invest in people across the whole of the United Kingdom”.
