Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has spoken against the government’s new system for registering EU nationals in the UK, following an announcement made in the House of Commons by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Addressing MPs earlier this week, Rudd confirmed that the registration of 3 million EU nationals in Britain will begin by the end of next year, alongside a promise that the new registration process would be “completely different” from the current controversial permanent residency application system, which Zeichner has previously described as “shambolic”.

Speaking to Varsity, Zeichner said: “The home secretary’s plan for EU nationals to have to register is hardly likely to make anyone here already feel welcome, and will make the UK a less attractive destination for students considering the UK as an option.”

EU students currently make up 18% of the total student body at Cambridge; however, in a written submission to MPs on the education select committee the University said it anticipated its annual admission numbers for EU students to fall from 1,100 to below 400.

Speaking on the potential changes for EU students post-Brexit, Zeichner said: “I think the central issue here is the complete lack of information from the government. There’s been no detail about fees, visa status, or future university funding, and this is seriously worrying. For our excellent universities, global collaboration and learning is key to attracting top talent and engaging with international research.”

Zeichner’s contention that British universities are on “shaky ground” is echoed by the House of Commons Education Committee’s recent report Exiting the EU: challenges and opportunities for higher education, which urged the government to “address the specific concerns within the HE sector” or face the “risk that Brexit will damage the international competitiveness and long-term success of our universities”.

As Varsity reported earlier this year, at Cambridge, the proportion of EU staff is at 27%, putting the university in danger of a ‘Brexit brain drain’, as up to 76% of EU academics would consider leaving their jobs in UK universities after the Brexit vote, according to a YouGov poll which was conducted in January. The Russell Group recently reported that staff who originate from the EU account for more than 23% of all academics at their universities, with 24,860 members of EU staff found in total.

Zeichner also suggested that “EU nationals who wish to work in the UK after their degree will inevitably be made to feel less welcome, and will consider going somewhere that feels more friendly; this will have a damaging effect on our communities, businesses, universities and public services.”

With the most recent round of Brexit negotiations in Brussels having ended without major breakthrough, it is unlikely that this problem will be resolved imminently. Zeichner concluded that: “It is increasingly clear that Brexit actually means Wrexit, and that it is in the national interest to think again.”