Katy Gordon

Katy Gordon, the Westminster Spokesperson for Glasgow North, will speak up for foreign students who come to Glasgow in the Higher Education debate at the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Aviemore on Friday.

Speaking in support of the outstanding Lib Dem record in government for education and skills, she will urge party colleagues to maintain Glasgow’s reputation as an excellent place to study.

Overseas students contribute thousands to university finances and Glasgow’s economy. So the least we can do is make sure they are made welcome, not ripped off and leave with a great impression of Scotland.

She raised the problems foreign students face in opening bank accounts, in the restrictions on whether they can work and in the bogus colleges that can lose unsuspecting students thousands of pounds. She said:

It is ridiculous that it can take so long for students to open bank accounts. In our computerised and globalised world, it should not be impossible to come up with a speedier way of proving identity.

Higher education is a devolved issue with international repercussions. I want our reputation as a great place to study to continue to grow, with all our institutions rated as highly as Glasgow Caledonian was this week for the overseas student experience. So we need to get the banks and the Holyrood and Westminster governments to work together to sort out these difficulties.