Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, has criticised the Government for slamming the door on doctors needed by local hospitals and highly-skilled researchers needed by universities. The Home Office’s Tier 2 cap restricts the number of visas it awards each month. This tier 2 visa is offered to skilled workers who are from nations outside the EU.

The cap was reached in both December 2017 and January 2018, causing skilled workers to have their immigration and visa applications rejected.

Mr Zeichner says: “Anyone coming to the country under a Tier 2 visa is clearly of the so-called “brightest and best” that the Government claim they want to attract to the UK. This cap serves no purpose other than to make the government look like they’re tough on immigration – when in reality they are being tough on patients.”

“If doctors with jobs at Addenbrookes are having their visas rejected, and scientists and engineers from excellent world-leading institutions are being excluded, this shows what a shambles our immigration system is. There is no upside to this cap; it is a further example of outstanding idiocy straight from Downing Street, and is damaging to both patient health and the wider UK economy.”

Dr Sarah Main, Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, says:

“The Tier 2 cap is absurd. It causes the UK to reject the brightest and best the Government says it wants to attract. Skilled people who companies here have specifically recruited are turned down due to an arbitrary monthly limit. The rejections we’ve seen in the last two months waste companies’ time and leave business and service needs unmet, further damaging productivity. Such policies knock business confidence in the visa system and tarnish the UK’s reputation as a place for highly skilled individuals to work and contribute. The cap should be abolished”