I caught a snippet of a news article late last night, I think on the BBC, saying that English, Welsh and Northern Irish students would pay fees in Scotland but Scottish students would continue to not have to. I had believed this was already the case and that students from other member states of the EU don’t pay fees due to rules set down from Brussels. (Upon a second look, I note that the news item was that fees would go up from ~£1,900 to £6,000)

It does, on the face of it, appear a nakedly opportunistic way of doing business, smash and grab cash injections with more than a hint of independence-trailing to it from the SNP decision-makers. Of course, the plan may not even raise further revenue as if 67% of English students decide to stay away from Scotland then we won’t make any more money and, indeed, the Scottish students that take those freed up places will cost Scots more. Consequently, I hope a cut in the number of students attending higher education is also in the Green Paper and access becomes more competitive.

However, as opportunistic as this all seems, the Scottish Government has been backed into a corner as it believes in free education but has been handed a spending allocation that does not allow for it without deep cuts elsewhere. There is no reason why Scotland should accept the Browne Review if the proposals are so at odds with what the SNP, Greens and Holyrood Lib Dems (typically) argue for. This, of course, is the harsh reality of devolution, one must take the rough with the smooth, but, equally, those in the rest of the UK cannot complain if Scotland’s MSPs aggressively defend Scotland’s students and their future education.

The four nations of the UK jacking up fees for their three nearest neighbours seems counter-productive and mean-spirited but Osborne cutting so fast and so deep leaves little choice but for administrations light in power to plug the revenue gaps.

So much for we’re all in this together.

Anyway, today sees the Scottish Government announce its plans on how further education courses will be funded going forward. Politically, there is only one announcement that Mike Russell will realistically be able to make and that is to keep university free. A May election, student protests, the Lib Dem u-turn and pushing Labour onto the backfoot will mean that it will be business as usual for now. If you’re Scottish that is, of course.