In Friday’s Daily Telegraph, a paper whose editorial line, since its purchase from the disgraced Lord Black by the hugely rich and aquisitive Barclay Brothers, has been strikingly anti-English, there was published the Article below.
My rhetorical question though is whether it is in any meaningful or any truthful sense valid for the Tories to claim that it is the SNP who are being “vindictive” – or is this a typical example of Tory duplicity?
Isn’t it the British Unionist Establishment Parties, all three of which have, at various times when they sought electoral advantage, promised not to introduce Student Top up fees but which have swiftly betrayed the trust reposed in them by the English electorate, once they have got safely into a British Ministerial car?
Wasn’t it those Parties, not the SNP, which imposed or increased the Fees “vindictively” only on English Students?
There is one final question:- How long will the English put up with such blatantly vindictive anti-Englishness?
Perhaps the answer lies in last week’s Yougov poll result showing 63%, of a GB wide survey, showing unmistakeable signs of a rising sense of English Nationalism. http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/hufq8ro02k/YG-Archives-pol-Europe-181111.pdf
Perhaps it is needless to say that the Daily Telegraph altogether failed to publish the results of that Poll!
Here is the Article:-
Families may ‘move from England to avoid tuition fee hike’
The rising cost of a university degree in England could create “fee refugees” as parents move to Scotland and Wales to escape huge debts, it was claimed today.
Families may attempt to move to Scotland or Wales to avoid fee rises in England, said HEFCE.
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor
An analysis by the Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England said families may flee over the border to avoid fees of up to £9,000 in 2012.
Parents living “close to the borders” are among those most likely to relocate to another country, it was claimed, potentially creating “distortive effects on local economies and housing markets”.
A move from England to Scotland could save students as much as £36,000 for a four year degree because of sharp differences in fees policies operated by devolved governments across the UK.
The comments came as it emerged that the Scottish Executive could carry out checks on applicants to ensure they are legitimate residents and not attempting to exploit the generous funding system north of the border.
From next year, English students will be forced to pay up to £9,000 wherever they study but Scottish undergraduates will be given free tuition.
Fees for Welsh students will be fixed at £3,465 and those in Northern Ireland will pay a similar amount, but only if they stay in their own region.
The system has already caused outrage in England, with several students pursuing legal action against the Scottish government amid claims that the fee rises will breach their human rights.
The Scottish Conservatives have branded the plans “vindictive” and warned that it would “stir up resentment in the rest of the UK against Scotland”.
A paper presented to a HEFCE board meeting warns that there “may be issues with families, particularly those close to the borders, seeking to domicile themselves in Wales or Scotland in order to benefit from favourable fee arrangements”.
The report adds: “This could have distortive effects on local economies and housing markets if it occurred with significant numbers.”
Bob Osborne, emeritus professor of public policy at Ulster University, told Times Higher Education magazine that if a family “was living 15 miles from the Scottish border then you can see how they might try to wangle it”.
But he doubted there was going to be a “mass exodus of people from Surrey to Glasgow”.
The Scottish Executive has already said children whose parents move to Scotland for their careers will be eligible for a free university education.
But families who seek to exploit the system by buying a home north of the Border will not. A spokesman said the Student Awards Agency for Scotland will decide on a case-by-case basis, with people not living north of the border for long likely to be scrutinised.
The HEFCE paper also warned that there is a “question of affordability” attached to the reforms for devolved administrations. Most countries are committed to subsidising students’ tuition even if they study outside their home country and budgets may stretched if universities in England put up their tuition fees, it was claimed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8913671/Families-may-move-from-England-to-avoid-tuition-fee-hike.html
