Some 300,000 persons entered the UK on student visas with their dependants last year. The Con Dem government has pledged to reduce these figures.

But why are they surprised that many students tend to stay on and settle in the UK?

Getting a student visa is in itself not an easy task- requiring numerous letters of identity, acceptance on to a course, and sufficient financial funds available for the course itself,  accommodation and daily living expenses. Students then have to pay another huge amount in visa fees. All of this without relying on any meaningful form of work to help you along. Non EU students can rely on student loan funding like British and EU students.

After jumping through so many hurdles, some international students, and its still only a small number, manage to secure decent jobs on graduation with an employer willing to go through the arduous work permit process. For some others, they may have met a special someone and made the difficult decision to settle in a new country.

These are human actions: reaping the rewards of hard work and grasping opportunity.

How do you impose tighter immigration controls on that?

Home Secretary Theresa May is to set out further details of the government’s plans to scrap the £5 billion ID cards scheme soon.

Theresa May: Keeping ID cards for non EU nationals

The Home Office is publishing the Identity Documents Bill – announced in the Queen’s speech on Tuesday – which will abolish identity cards and destroy all personal information gathered for the National Identity Register.  Identity cards will be scrapped within one month of the Bill receiving Royal Assent and cardholders, who paid £30 each for a card, will not get a refund.

However nationals from outside of the EU will continue to be required to submit their biometric details.
The campaign group No2ID said that this amounted to treating them as criminal suspects.

“We’ve opposed ID cards for everyone, ” said No2ID national coordinator Phil Booth.
“The situation for foreign nationals are different- it is issued under the UK Border Act, which we gave evidence against.”
He added: “The UK Border Act goes far beyond what is reasonable for human dignity. It’s wrong to effectively stigmatise and effectively treat people coming from outside the EU as criminal suspects.”

One thing is clear, coalition governments are fraught with difficulties and pose all sort of questions and possibilities.

Last Thursday’s election proved inconclusive, with the public seemingly unable to choose a clear winner. The smart money is on the Lib Dems working out a long term deal with David Cameron but what will that mean for black Britain? What would happen if rebel Lib Dem MPs did vote with Labour on future bills? Would the Conservatives call an election soon after they have brokered their deal with the Lib Dems?

Can the Conservatives push through their ‘Big Society’ ideas?

Would a subdued Lib Dem immigration policy hold any sway over Labour?

One thing is clear, coalition governments are fraught with difficulties and pose all sort of questions and possibilities.

It’s clear that the eventual government will have to compromise their election pledges if they are to successfully govern. And another general election to allow the public the opportunity to give a clear mandate is very likely sometime in the coming months.

But how would a coalition government tackle the major issues for black Britain?

Here’s what we think:

Immigration:

The pundits are all agreed that a hung Parliament would mean any government would be more inclined to promote populist policies. When it comes to immigration, this could mean a draconian tightening of Britain’s borders to appease British xenophobia.

The Conservatives have never been known for a sympathetic approach to immigration and they’ve promised to take a hard line.

They say: “immigration today is too high and needs to be reduced. We do not need to attract people to do jobs that could be carried out by British citizens, given the right training and support. So we will take steps to take net migration back to the levels of the 1990s – tens of thousands a year, not hundreds of thousands.’

With a wafer thin majority, immigration could become a quick way to shore up populist support.

For all their pledges to change Britain’s view of migrants, the Lib Dem voice in any coalition is likely to be muted on this issue. Expect more Labour posturing to show just how tough they can get on this topic.

National deficit and public spending

All three of the main parties shied away from disclosing just how deep and wide their public spending cuts would go, but they were all agreed that a period of austerity was on the cards for Britain.

How would this work in a coalition government?

George Osborne, Conservative Shadow Chancellor has long stressed what he sees as the negative impact that a hung Parliament would have.

He described rule under a hung Parliament as: “politics behind closed doors; indecision and weak government; a paralysed economy”.

To give a flavour of the impact of a hung Parliament on Britain’s economy, let’s not forget what happened after the 1974 election- the FTSE All Share Index fell nearly 15 percent in a month and it ended the year more than 50 percent below where it began.

In 1975, RPI inflation rose to 24 percent; the basic rate of income tax was increased by the Labour government to 35p in the pound in 1975; and as foreign investors lost confidence in sterling, the government was left with no other option but to push up interest rates further to defend the pound.

In the short-term, a coalition government would hesitate from making the harsh decisions that are needed to address the deficit. While that would satisfy general desire, it would do little in the long term.

This one is of particular concern for many black single parent households. A traditional employer for single black mothers, the public sector faces serious reigning in, which could mean numerous job losses.

But none of that would be popular for coalition partners.

Expect short-term proposals that shy away from angering the public, and instead seek to appease public concern. But all that’s unlikely to help the international markets and Britain would become increasingly pressured from its European partners to make deep cuts.

Equalities:

They may not have all come in the seats we expected, but the Conservatives have shown that when it comes to embracing BME candidates, they are miles ahead of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Overall, the Conservatives now have 11 BME members of Parliament, including a number of new faces such as Sam Gyimah, Kwasi Kwarteng, Priti Patel, Helen Grant and Paul Uppal- more than any party ever.

Writing in The Voice, Goerge Osborne has promised to introduce a national mentoring scheme for black would-be business owners, giving them the support and advice they need to access finance and start a business. They would also encourage internships in every single Whitehall department for young people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

On the surface such pledges are easy to implement. But with no clear majority, the Conservatives are unlikely to want to go any further, so don’t expect any steps towards positive discrimination, or legislation to address racial inequality.

The Liberal Democrats made much of their commitment to equalities in the election campaign, but have no BME MPs. Although Labour has traditionally done more for BME communities, most recently introducing the Equalities Act, they have few BME representatives after this election. Could this election disaster be the kick they need to introduce all BME shortlists in the future?

Perhaps we can look forward to a greater commitment by Labour and the Liberal Democrats to place black candidates in winnable seats in the future.

ID cards & DNA database:

If the Conservatives were to build a working relationship with the Lib Dems, they are likely to scrap the unpopular and expensive DNA database, and introduce different measures to address crime. They are likely to win public support, especially from black Britons who have been disproportionately represented on the police DNA database.

However unlikely, if Labour was to do any later deals deal with the Lib Dems they too will have to take a long hard look at the police DNA database. Their coalition partners are unlikely to support any expansion of the database and would surely push for a scrapping of ID cards.

Expect this one to go down very well with black Britain.

Child Tax Credit:

Gordon Brown has repeatedly crowed about the success of the child tax credit system.

Introduced as part of the drive to combat child poverty and to help families, it is payable regardless of whether the recipient is working or unemployed. The election debate has focused on the family lump sum of £545 available to couples earning joint incomes of up to £50,000 per year. For those earning more than £50,000 the amount they receive reduces by £1 for every £15 increase in income. Under the current system any households with a joint income over £58,175 will receive nothing.

However the Conservatives want to drop the current £50,000 threshold to £40,000. This would mean tax credits would be reduced by £1 for every £15 of a couple’s income above £40,000. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that 1.2 million families eligible for child tax credit are in the band of income from £40,000 to £58,000 which would lose out under the Conservative plans.

So would the Tories go ahead with this plan if they were able to wrangle power? That would largely depend on who else was in bed with them. The Lib Dems are unlikely to support such a move, so expect the child tax credit system to remain largely unchanged.

‘National service for’ young people:

David Cameron has been keen on finding a way to get young people involved in serving the wider community and his ‘national service’ idea has the support of actor Sir Michael Caine.

The National Citizen Service, non-military national service for 16 year-olds, will be a two month summer programme for 16-year-olds, involving both residential and at-home components. It will be delivered by independent charities, social enterprises and businesses.

This pledge hasn’t come in for too much stick over the election campaign, instead being derided as a gimmick. But it could go down pretty well with the black community- after all we often support measures to keep our young people out of trouble.

Expect this one to stick around in a coalition government.

As to be expected, one question from the audience focused on immigration. The UKIP representative gave the typical: ‘we would freeze all immigration’ response. Thankfully, however, there was some sense spoken by the LibDem and my own local MP, Bob Russell, who praised the positive contributions that migrants have made to British life. He pointed out just how quickly many of Britain’s public services would collapse if the immigratns working in them were to be removed.

I’m no fan of the LibDems given their poor record on diversity- still no BME MPs and unlikely to have any at this election given their absence in winnable LibDem seats- but it was a pleasure to hear at least 1 politician stand up for migrants.

On a similar note, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) will launch their I Love Migrants campaign this evening at the Foundry club in Old Street, east London from 7pm.

The campaign website: www.ilovemigrants.wordpress.com debunks common myths about migration and encourages politicians to give the facts.

We could all do with some more of that.