Rishi Sunak has been roasted on social media after he boasted about banning most foreign students from bringing family to the UK.
The ban is a key element of Sunak’s plan to bring down the number of immigrants coming to Britain.
Last year, 136,000 visas were issued to the dependants of foreign students - up from 16,000 in 2019.
In a New Year’s Day post on X (formerly Twitter), the prime minister said the policy showed the government was “already delivering for the British people” in 2024.
But Sunak was condemned in the replies to his post on X.
One user said: “Imagine bragging about this. Embarrassing.”
Another added: “Performative spite as a policy. How low have we sunk?”
Others pointed out that it could lead to foreign students choosing to enrol at universities abroad.
Cambridge University lecturer Sir Richard Evans said: “This is so short-sighted and arrogant. It affects, above all, international graduate students in their mid to late 20s, many with families. Research-intensive universities depend heavily on them for income since they can charge economic fees for them, unlike for undergraduates.”
But home secretary James Cleverly said the government has “set out a tough plan to rapidly bring numbers down, control our borders and prevent people from manipulating our immigration system”.
He added: “Today, a major part of that plan comes into effect, ending the unreasonable practice of overseas students bringing their family members to the UK,” he added.
“This will see migration falling rapidly by the tens of thousands and contribute to our overall strategy to prevent 300,000 people from coming to the UK.”