Whitehall's border bullies are driving overseas students away Other students are made to wait months for a visa, given "credibility" interviews where they can be turned down for the most minor things, or without any explanation. They are then charged an extra £500 if they reapply. There are also major restrictions on overseas students taking jobs here to help meet their costs and to gain valuable experience. As Sir Christopher Meyer, our former ambassador to the US, said to me: "This is so typical of a government machine where everyone is desperate to avoid any blame, so they kick out at everyone and innocent people suffer." Sir Christopher, who teaches a politics course at the University of North Carolina, warns: "The danger is that students from countries like India and China will go elsewhere - notably to Canada, Australia and the US, which all have excellent universities and where there are also existing Chinese and Indian communities. David Cameron is always telling us we are in a global race for business, but it is as if other countries are forging ahead while Britain is in a sack race. It is true that the system for admitting foreign students has been abused, with bogus colleges setting themselves up in one room over a chip shop. Most of those have now been closed. Worse, London Metropolitan University clearly flouted the rules on overseas students and had to be stripped of its licence. What is more, the Government's pledge to cut immigration has widespread public support. It is also true that the official figures suggest the number of foreign students overall is stagnant rather than falling. But more detailed analysis shows a decline in the numbers coming from key countries - such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. And they are expected to fall further. As with so many policies, it is how it is done that is crucial. The Government wants to cut immigration to 100,000 a year. This is fine in theory, but not at the risk of damaging Britain's reputation for scholarship as well as seriously hampering our push for growth. There is also something deeply unpleasant and un-British about the bureaucratic thuggery of the UK Border Agency - academics have asked me not to name them or their colleges "or UKBA will target us." Those in the academic community believe the agency is working to unofficial targets to get down to the magic 100,000 - a number that seems to have been plucked out of the air by politicians to sound good on the election hustings. Mark Sedwill is a career diplomat, which makes his appointment at the Home Office highly unusual. His only real experience of the domestic scene was in the UK Border Agency under Labour, in the days when ministers were keen for immigration numbers to let rip. A clampdown was long overdue but it is going badly wrong. By all accounts Mr Sedwill is personable, highly focused and an action man in every sense - he loves scuba diving, hill walking, squash and windsurfing. When he was in Afghanistan he won high praise from both the military and civilian colleagues, not least as our ambassador to Nato. One of his major achievements was to make its various members end their squabbling and agree what the mission in Afghanistan should be. It is also said that the reason he applied to the Home Office was concern that the Government has pushed Afghanistan well down its list of priorities. Mr Sedwill was keen to find new challenges. He will certainly find those at the Home Office and, given his career so far, he could be just the man to sort out what looks like a gathering crisis.