City Talks: Challenging the myths about migration

In this month’s episode, Andrew explores the economic impact of migration on UK cities with Dr Nicola Headlam Urban Transformations & Foresight Future of Cities Knowledge Exchange Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and Dr Max Nathan, Senior Birmingham Fellow (Regional Economic Development) at Birmingham Business School and Deputy Director at the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth.

With the recent revelation from the Office of National Statistics that only 4,600 international students overstayed their visas last year, overturning previous suggestions that the number was closer to 100,000, Andrew and his guests discuss how and why the debate on migration in the UK has become 'evidence free'.

From the benefits of cognitive diversity in the workforce to the success of the entrepreneur program, our guests offer insights from their own research on the less publicised impacts migrants have on the economy. They go on to discuss the big question; does net migration have an overall positive or negative effect on the UK economy? Finally they consider how Brexit might affect migration patterns and examine what benefits the diasporic community can have on facilitating trade links with new markets.