EU nationals living in the UK are being urged to use European elections next month to protest over a government proposal to make future students from the bloc pay more to study at English universities.
Damian Hinds, education secretary, is proposing to end the preferential status enjoyed by EU students for courses starting in 2021-22, whether Britain is scheduled to leave the union.
The proposal, first reported by BuzzFeed News, was not denied by the Department for Education and has already attracted criticism that the government is willing to hobble its thriving universities by turning away international talent.
“Another dreadful idea from this dim-witted government,” said Gavin Esler, a former BBC journalist and a candidate for the Change UK party in next month’s European Parliament elections.
“Any EU students or nationals in this country who can register to vote please do so. We want a brainy Britain and to attract the best and brightest,” he wrote on Twitter.
EU citizens have until May 7 to register to vote in the elections on May 23. There were an estimated 3.7m nationals of another EU country living in the UK in 2018.
Under the proposals — which have not been finalised or signed off by cabinet — future EU students at universities in England would no longer have the right to pay the same tuition fees as domestic students.
The plan could see them charged the significantly higher fees currently paid by international students from non-EU countries.
Theresa May, prime minister, has often clashed with cabinet ministers over her insistence that foreign students should be included in net immigration figures.
If the government were to impose higher tuition fees on EU students, critics would argue that it would blow a hole in Mrs May’s claim to be developing a “Global Britain” strategy after Brexit.
Mr Hinds has previously guaranteed home fee status for new EU students starting courses in 2019-20 but has said nothing about the policy after that date.
“We have said that EU students already here will have access to financial support for the duration of their course on the same basis as is available today,” said a person close to Mr Hinds.
Irish students would continue to enjoy home fee status, while the Scottish government has guaranteed home fee status for EU students starting courses this year and in 2020-21.
The Department for Education said the government would “provide sufficient notice for prospective EU students on fee arrangements”.
But Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said the Conservative party had “refused to recognise the vital contribution made by international students” and were “failing to support our world-leading universities”.
