It is now nine short weeks until the Scottish Parliament elections, the result of which may well take us up to 2016, and we are somehow no closer to solving the mounting problem of how Scottish students should finance their studies.
Seemingly fearful of the power that Doc Marten-clad, Ipod-swinging, Twitter-pounding, Countdown-watching young ‘uns can wield, the parties at Holyrood have remained largely silent on the matter, hedging their bets with scattershot proposed solutions that may or may not solve the financial problem. There has been no grasping of the thistle as yet though.
It is a relatively simple quandary that Scotland faces too. Westminster is spending less south of the border and specifically spending less on universities so Scotland, with a diminished block grant, can choose to match those cuts to further education or cut elsewhere to safeguard student funding. We do not currently know what the Scottish Government intends to do, whichever party(ies) make it up next term.
It is worth asking the question – when will this logjam break? In time before the next election? Iain Gray has not moved a policy muscle recently and it is unlikely that Scottish Labour will campaign on higher Council tax and higher fees. The SNP will presumably play a zero sum game where as long as they stay just ahead of Labour in terms of policy, vision and strategy then they are not going to do anything too radical either but may well have to bite the bullet after May, Clegg-style. The other parties, already at risk of losing out from a two-horse race for Holyrood power, are hardly likely to make themselves less popular by aggressively pushing the case for significantly higher fees in Scotland.
So on we dance in our merry little waltz.
It’s not that I don’t understand the predicament that our politicians are in. It is the public I blame most of all for wanting to have their cake and eat it. Most parties believe in the fundamental concept of a free university education, the Greens, the SNP, the Lib Dems and, most of the time as far as I am aware, Labour.
However, our constitutional setup does not allow enough flexibility in the tax system to raise the necessary cash. Will Calman change that? Probably not. Will we have a referendum on full fiscal autonomy or independence? Again, probably not. What are ‘the people’ going to do about it? Probably nothing.
We have four years of inertia ahead of us before the first real opportunity to lift the weight of the coalition Government’s decisions from our constricted chests, starting with student funding. Four years that look set to be plagued with political half-measures and more Parliament squabbling.
Again, I don’t really blame the politicians. If we’re going to vote for the party that is offering us the least pain despite the financial reality that Scotland faces, then we are effectively asking to be lied to.
#1 by Danny1995 on March 3, 2011 - 6:06 pm
As someone who hopes to be going to university in a little over a year, this is THE issue of the election for me. It’s between the SNP and Labour, and the electorate don’t know Labour’s policy. We know the SNP have ruled out tuition fees, but their 6 point plan includes the option of a graduate contribution, also it includes the option of keeping it free for Scottish students and increasing the price for English students.
My parents will probably accept my advice on who to vote for, and unless Labour blatantly say they’ll keep the free tuition(Which they won’t), I’ll request them to vote SNP on both ballot papers. The Lib Dems can’t be trusted on tuition fees, the Tories will support the introduction of tuition fees or some form of contribution, and the Greens are just a no go because they won’t win a Central list seat anyway.
At the moment I’m about 95% sure I’ll advise people to vote for the SNP, 5% chance of Labour, but if both parties have the exact same policy on higher education, even though I’m a unionist, I feel like I’d trust the SNP more to deliver.
#2 by Jeff on March 3, 2011 - 6:17 pm
I can of course totally see where you’re coming from Danny but I talked people into voting SNP 4 years ago simply because the Nats were promising to write off their students loans. It didn’t really work out that way for them (or me!)
So are you not a little bit concerned that you’re being conned by whoever is making you the most convincing promise that can’t actually be delivered? How can the SNP (or anyone) provide free education with a block grant from Westminster that itself, not only doesn’t provide free education, but is sanctioning the charging £9,000 a year to students?
The Greens are the only ones that are honest enough to say that we need to tax more in order to spend more but are getting unfairly pilloried for it.
I guess I’m just concerned that this election is going to be a mess due to the disconnect between difficult decisions that need to be taken and what voters want to hear.
#3 by Danny1995 on March 3, 2011 - 7:52 pm
I am concerned about what the SNP might do, but I think they’re more likely to look at a graduate tax or endowment as opposed to Labour’s full on tuition fees. In effect I view the SNP as the lesser of two evils at the moment
#4 by Jeff on March 3, 2011 - 8:24 pm
… which is probably a fair assessment if one is keen on voting for one of the big two parties so, yes, fair enough and best of luck!
#5 by Indy on March 4, 2011 - 9:31 am
Lol Jeff. The Greens are the only ones who are saying they want to tax Scots more than anyone else in the UK because Westminster has cut the amount of our own money that they give back to us to spend.
And you are surprised people aren’t queuing up to support that?
#6 by Jeff on March 4, 2011 - 10:37 am
Was that really an lol moment? Can we realistically keep tuition free without raising revenue or cutting massively elsewhere? I’m not convinced.
I don’t really want go round the houses on this one (despite it being a ‘doorstep election’ apparently, ha!) but at this stage of proceedings the Greens aren’t really promising that much more than the SNP is but the Greens ‘are’ suggesting that we need to raise more revenue in order to pay for it. You say yourself that this will not go down well with the electorate so doesn’t it make you wonder why the Greens feel the need to make that difficult, honest admission while other parties do not?
I mean, come on, Swinney is clearly waiting to wield the axe until after the election and if he doesn’t tell us in advance what he intends to do then is he really any better than Osborne or Clegg?
I get that the SNP push independence harder but that’s not likely to be a short term or medium term solution to the financial vice we find ourselves in so even convincing the ~30% of the electorate who are in favour of independence will be a tough ask. So, for me, the Greens are better placed to appeal to either side of the constitutional question as at least they are being upfront about both sides of the equation.
PS “Westminster has cut the amount of our own money that they give back to us to spend” – Do you see the UK Treasury as some sort of savings account?
#7 by Indy on March 4, 2011 - 11:34 am
No I don’t see the Treasury as some sort of saving account – if it was we could withdraw our money!
Regarding the point. The SNP has already made difficult decisions e.g the public sector pay freeze, cutting GARL. Whoever wins in May will have to make further difficult decisions.
But decisions on expenditure and cuts will be made by whatever administration is in charge on the basis of their priorities. There is nothing inevitable about introducing tuition fees. As tight as things are going to be, there is still room to allocate spending according to priority. The SNP believes as a fundamental principle that education should be based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. We are not going to change our minds on that, any more than we would change our minds on nuclear weapons or maintaining the NHS as a universal service free at the point of need. I’m quite happy to stick my neck out on that – and you may chop my head off if the SNP ever goes back on that principle.
#8 by Jeff on March 4, 2011 - 11:52 am
But not everything can be a priority and that’s where the SNP is suspect, no more so than several other parties I accept. How can the SNP increase spending on the NHS, keep tuition free, increase Social Housing, maintain support for small business, keep free care for the elderly and build a spanking new billion-pound bridge with a budget that is about to shrink significantly? It surely can’t be done.
Ok, pay was frozen and GARL was dropped. That is a drop in the ocean compared to what Westminster has had to do so I suspect “further difficult decisions” is the underwater part of the iceberg and we don’t seem to be privy to the full picture. I basically just don’t want a rerun of the Westminster election where Labour, Cons and Lib Dem took us for imbeciles and brazenly refused to tell us their spending plans despite the IFS telling us in no uncertain terms that election promises did not match reality. Lo and behold, the UK Government makes decisions that, to all intents and purposes, it doesn’t have a credible mandate for.
The SNP’s principles are commendable but you can’t govern by principle alone while blinkered to a contradictory financial reality. That’s my concern. I may be proved wrong in a year or two’s time when Swinney pulls more magic from his cheque book but, nonetheless, I don’t see it happening unless a bit more honesty is shown between now and May.
#9 by Indy on March 4, 2011 - 1:11 pm
The pay freeze is far from a drop in the ocean Jeff. The majority of the Scottish Government’s budget is accounted for by salary payments.
#10 by CassiusClaymore on March 4, 2011 - 5:31 pm
Pay for free higher education by limiting higher education to those who are actually academically able to take advantage of it. Close the surplus ‘universities’ or turn them back into technical colleges where someone might actually learn something useful.
Funding crisis solved.
CC
#11 by Daniel J on March 4, 2011 - 8:46 pm
SNP lose a little credibility with me for barrelling headlong into a new and what would appear to be overpriced Forth Crossing. I wouldn’t put it past them to reintroduce the endowment should they win the Election.
You can’t blame them for being quiet on the issue as the rest of the big parties have kept quiet. (Apart from the tories who seem to enjoy the prospect of fees..)
Labour and the Lib Dems. Can’t trust them as you can through their parliamentary parties… not one inch!
#12 by Indy on March 5, 2011 - 9:18 am
Both Labour and the Lib Dems in Scotland have also now indicated that they will rule out tuition fees in their manifestos.
The question is whether they would have done that if the SNP had not held its nerve. I doubt it somehow and suggest that whatever party students vote for they actually owe a debt to the SNP for keeping tuition fees off the agenda north of the border.
#13 by Jeff on March 5, 2011 - 1:07 pm
“held its nerve”
I know, it’s terribly difficult promising to people what they want to hear….
#14 by Danny1995 on March 5, 2011 - 1:10 pm
I’d tend to lean on the side of not trusting the Lib Dems, but the fact they’ve openly admitted they’d prefer to cut the bus passes and keep free uni makes them seem honest.
#15 by Jeff on March 5, 2011 - 3:41 pm
Yep, credit where it’s due Danny. The Lib Dems have offered something of a debit to match the credit of free tuition. Tavish needs this policy regardless of the cost but I’d still be surprised if he plans to scrap free bus passes entirely. I would imagine the pledge will be some sort of means testing which, of course, carries a cost in itself so I’d be wary of half measures.
But yes, a degree of commendable honesty with Tavish’s fee pledge I accept.
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