What products and services will Britain sell in the post-Brexit world? Car exporters fear for their futures outside the EU’s single market and customs union. Financial institutions talk of pulling back to New York or moving to Frankfurt if they were to lose their passporting rights.
Fortunately, Britain still has a world-leading export industry: higher education — an appreciating asset when a quarter of the world’s population speaks English, millions more are learning and many want to study outside their home countries. With the pound plunging, British education looks particularly attractive.
Or it would do, if Theresa May’s Conservative government had not chosen last week to give this vital UK business a good thumping. Amber Rudd, the home secretary, told the Conservative party conference that the government was considering a two-tier student visa system, “making sure our world-leading institutions can attract the brightest and the best . . . while looking at tougher rules for students on lower-quality courses”.