Sajid Javid admits 'problem' with counting foreign students in targets to lower immigration

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Home secretary Sajid Javid has admitted there is a “perception problem” with including foreign students in the government’s target to reduce net migration. He also diverged from Ms May's approach by confirming he would push ahead with reviewing aspects of the “hostile environment” policy and said he In a key section of his first big television interview since taking up his job, Mr Javid was only able to offer lukewarm backing to his party’s goal of reducing net migration to the “tens of thousands” – a target The Independent is campaigning to abolish. Sajid Javid opposes 'hostile environment' approach to UK immigration opting instead for a 'compliant environment' He said: “There is a perception problem around this.” Mr Javid pointed out that as long as the students arriving leave at the end of their studies, there numbers would not have a great impact on net migration data in the long term. The home secretary first signalled he would begin to shift elements of the UK’s immigration policy on his first outing in the Commons, when he said he did not like using the word “hostile” to describe his approach to illegal migrants, a term used by Ms May for many years.