A FORMER Tory universities minister branded leaked plans to kick foreign students out of Britain after graduation “mean-spirited” yesterday.

David Willetts said the proposals would do “real damage” and risked deterring foreign students from countries such as India or China coming to learn in Britain at a time when the country should be trying to increase its share of the lucrative global market for higher-level education.

A Home Office source told the Sunday Times that Theresa May was pushing for a policy forcing non-EU students to leave the country and apply for a new visa if they wanted to return to be included in the next Tory manifesto.

Present rules allow non-EU students to stay on to work for up to two years after leaving university, but only in a graduate-level job with a licensed sponsor and a minimum salary of £20,300.

Mr Willetts said that instead of preventing foreign graduates working here, the government should be making it easier for them — such as by lowering minimum pay rates for post-study work.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said Ms May’s immigration policy is “in chaos.

“More does need to be done to stop people overstaying illegally when their visas run out — whether they arrived on student visas, work visas or tourist visas,” she said.

“But the answer to that isn’t to prevent highly skilled overseas graduates getting legal work visas to fill shortages in fields like science or medicine here.”