Freeman: UK will never be science superpower behind visa paywall

There is a much bigger issue that is domestic; the UK failure to produce enough high quality science and engineering graduates and low attainment in maths. Needs major reform in both FE and HE.

Saw the word 'paywall' and immedately thought of journal articles. Articles written and reviewed for free for the journal, who maintain a website (fairly cheap to do). So why do journals charge so much for these articles? Oh of course, because they can, now there are no paper versions in libraries. Any detailed cost breakdown - nope, thought not.

Why so? The US seems to be doing pretty well with a strict visa regime. Getting highly skilled people is the way forward. If salaries are fairly compensation for the skills required for a particular job and/or reflect the difficulty in acquiring the necessary skills then these high thresholds are necessary. If the pay does not reflect these, then the pay needs to change to reflect the skills/skills shortages. Reducing the thresholds is not the way forward.