How Commonwealth business can save the UK economy

LONDON — If U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is to make the country a leader in global trade, she will have to avoid bowing to the worst of British prejudice. Specifically, her stance on immigration will have to change.

As the United Kingdom leaves the European single market, its success will become increasingly reliant on the goodwill and patience of its global allies. In particular, free-trade negotiations with the Commonwealth — 52 member countries, both large and small — bear exciting prospects for British business. But a failure to address the thorny issue of visas for countries like India risks stalling the growth of the “Global Britain” May wants to build.

India, home to 1.25 billion people, is also home to Britain’s largest trade mission. I am proud to be the founding chairman of the U.K.-India Business Council, which has provided expertise, contact networks and desk space for British small and medium enterprises looking to set up operations in India.

The former British colony invests more in the U.K. than it does in the rest of the EU combined. With the U.K. inside the single market, its state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, leading financial sector, fast-growing technology sector and extraordinary talent pool have flourished, bringing clear benefits to our Indian partners. There are more than 700 Indian-owned business in the U.K., employing more than 100,000 people, according to a report by Grant Thornton.

Our visa policy needs to reflect our new priorities. We should offer a gilded welcome to Indian digital entrepreneurs and tech talent, or they will start their businesses elsewhere.

India is eager to expand its trade with the U.K., but the greatest setbacks to that effort have come not from the EU, but from the prime minister and her party. Indian leaders, it should go without saying, will be unhappy with our departure from the single market, the world’s largest trade bloc. Similarly, May’s refusal to cut the cost of two-year visitor visas for Indians — to a rate currently enjoyed by China — means we are hindering rather than encouraging trade with India.

As May has made clear in her speeches and actions, the U.K. is probably on course for a very hard exit from the EU. As this takes place, however, we will still need access to a pool of talent and expertise, such as we currently reach inside the EU.

We will still need just as many doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, scientists, accountants and digital technology specialists. Tourists, particularly business tourists, will need to have privileged access to the U.K. market.

Our visa policy needs to reflect our new priorities. We should offer a gilded welcome to Indian digital entrepreneurs and tech talent, or they will start their businesses elsewhere. A visa scheme for tech entrepreneurs, like the scheme recently launched in France, should be as much of a priority for the government as competitive corporate tax rates.

Similarly, restrictive visa policies risk undermining one of the U.K.’s most important economic assets: our world-leading universities and the gifted students — British and foreign — that come out of them.

Britain is already losing out to other top destinations, like English-speaking Australia and Canada, which attract both EU and non-EU students. According to the latest figures, the number of students from India studying in Britain has dropped to less than 50 percent of its 2010 peak. And this week, a survey of 219 international students found that, for the first time, Canada was a more desirable destination for EU students than the U.K.

If Britain is to continue to be one of the greatest destinations for business, the time has come for the prime minister’s restrictive stance on visas to change.

Enterprise and global trade thrive where travel and movement are free. This is a principle Britain has stood by ever since I first came to the U.K. as a student in the 1980s. I am fortunate to have grown an international business, Cobra Beer, from scratch, on this firm foundation.

If Britain is to continue to be one of the greatest destinations for business, the time has come for the prime minister’s restrictive stance on visas to change.

Lord Karan Bilimoria is founder and chairman of Cobra Beer, founding chairman of the U.K.-India Business Council, president of the U.K. Council for International Student Affairs and chancellor of the University of Birmingham.