Osborne adamant on immigration rules George Osborne has denied that the UK immigration system prevents talented foreign scientists from entering the country, but acknowledges that ministers must tackle the perception that the "brightest and best" are not welcome in Britain. Conservative ministers in the Home Office have imposed new restrictions on those coming to work, study or join their families in the UK as part of a drive to meet the party's target of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands by 2015. But the chancellor was challenged about these changes in an interview with Sir Paul Nurse, a leading scientist who is currently president of the Royal Society. Sir Paul, who was guest editing Today a flagship BBC radio news programme on Thursday, told Mr Osborne that his scientific colleagues around the world felt they are no longer "entirely welcome" in the UK since the immigration rules were changed. "If that is the perception then we must change it because I don't think it matches with the actual reality of the regime," the chancellor responded. You do have to have immigration control and the public lost confidence in immigration control, so it is important that the government gets [back] public confidence. However, Mr Osborne was firm that the regulations did not keep out the best brains from abroad. We do have a couple of routes into the country for talented scientists. One involves the Royal Society, which is scientists of exceptional talent - I am talking about the very best scientists in the world - they are fast-tracked into the UK," he said. The chancellor added that despite fears expressed by university leaders, international students did not face barriers getting into Britain. "I think, for the kinds of people we are talking about - people with real talent and ability and significant educational achievement behind them - they should have no problem in coming and working here," Mr Osborne said. The new immigration policies have been a source of increasing political tension over the past few months, following disagreements within the Tory party over whether the measures are a block to growth. Mr Osborne has criticised the Home Office for its slow response on streamlining the visa system for high-spending Chinese tourists, and Boris Johnson, the Tory mayor of London, accused the government of being "crazy" in its treatment of international students. In a keynote speech on immigration this month, Theresa May, the home secretary, tried to combat some of the negative perceptions that her policies have created, confirming that there would be no cap imposed on foreign student arrivals. Ms May also told the Financial Times shortly before the speech that "everything" her department was doing to keep the UK safe contributed to the coalition's growth agenda. "Companies want to know that if they're coming into the UK, if they're bringing staff into the UK, that there's that stable and secure background that people are coming to," the home secretary said.