ISSN 0951-8657 Published by Aurora Ltd, PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU. All rights reserved. Printed by Eastway Offset (TU all depts) There's even more to shout about under New Labour! graduates, but that universities stuck in (Labour's) cash limits cannot afford to expand: the new levy on students is supposed to be offering new "opportunities" for young people!
Blunkett predictably offers no evidence to refute concerns that heaping debts on students is likely to deter new applicants -especially those from lower-income families - even if extra university places could be opened up.
The reality is that Labour, like the Tories before them, have seen higher education as a soft target for spending cuts and for the imposition of charges.
They have seen that while parents, teachers, governors and pupils have mobilised in angry protests against school budget cuts, opposition to university cuts has been weak and muted, with the spineless leadership of the National Union of Students leading the retreat from any defence of free education.
They have timed the attack in such a way as to ensure that none of today's students will be affected, hoping to avoid any organised protest.
But nobody can afford to allow these new charges to be imposed. They are the thin end of a wedge which could undermine the fundamentals of the welfare state and the very concept of public services