Minister for Universities, David Willetts (left), could be more honest with the British people. But he showed he was determined to portray the Coalition Government's radial marketisation of Higher Education as equitable and designed to help poor families.
The bare facts are that undergraduate teacher funding is to be cut by 80 percent and the gap to be funded entirely by the students themselves, paying between £18,000 to £27,000 for a three year course. Giving graduates an easier way of paying hugely inflated fees does not amount to being "progressive" as Willetts claimed in a rather nauseating manner.
The sub-plot was revealed just after the election when he suggested young people should "set their sights a bit lower." Know their place, I guess is another way of putting it.
This privatisation will only save HM Treasury about £1bn so is economically idiotic. But what is shown to be hard-headed economic decision making is more ideological in reality.
Willetts could easily find warm words for sending boys up chimneys for fourteen hours a day. He would say, "We accept for some there will be a slightly longer average working day and but I feel sure many will thrive in this challenging work environment. It is not the role of Government to hold back young enthusiastic workers who chose to provide for their families in this exciting new enterprise. We already know many of the more ambitious 'sweeps' gain a valuable insight into the world of business and in that sense it could not be a more liberal policy..."
Tory families will feel the impact soon and it may yet shake them from their reverie. Lib-Dems have all woken with a start as the photo-ops of their MPs signing a pledge to oppose lifting the cap are repeated on their local TV news.
But if Ministers like Willetts really dared speak the truth it would start, "The Lib-Dems are taking most of the hits. So that's alright then."
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