LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE ENGLISH STUDENTS: YOU'RE SUBSIDIZING OVERSEAS STUDENTS

Well, now we know the reason for the student fees increase in England

Mr Cameron admitted that the increase would mean that fees for foreign students wouldn’t rise so much. So, that should be a comfort to all the English students who are considering whether they care to leave university with debts of perhaps as much as £45,000 or £50,000.

Not all students just follow the 3 year degree course. Teachers, for example, have to go on after university to study for a further year for their PGD which allows them to teach, and doctors may be at university for 7 years before being qualified (£63,000 + living expenses. I’d expect they'll have to import doctors from abroad in the future.)

Doubtless this news cheered up the 50,000 or so students and lecturers who protested in London today with disastrous consequences when it all got out of control. Injuries were sustained by both protesters and police in what was described by the Commissioner of the Met (why can’t they have a chief constable like everyone else?) as embarrassing, and badly managed. Why does that not surprise me? Oh because everything they do is embarrassing and badly managed. Who on earth runs that organization? Oh yes SIR Paul Stephenson. That’s right, they get the Knighthood before they start the job and the seat in the Lords after they finish it, no matter what a cock up they make of it.

And in parliament Nick Clegg, standing in for David Cameron admitted that he and his party had broken their pledge on students’ fees. Never suspecting that they might be called upon to uphold it, they had argued in opposition for no increases. Harriet (nobody loves me) Harman accused him of hawking his way round campuses soliciting votes ahead of the election and then being led astray by the Tories. Hatty joked that we all knew what it was like in Freshers’ Week. “You meet a dodgy man and do things you regret.”

Er no Hatts old thing. You may, but we don’t.

Cleggy had to own up that because of the financial situation (which he, of course knew nothing about before the election?) and because of compromises in the coalition agreement (ie the Liberals folding their tents), they had had to put forward different policies (one diametrically opposed to the previous ones). Despite being quite sure that he was doing the right thing he declined an invitation to meet students’ representatives.

Back in China, having put the Chinese students’ minds at rest about English students subsidizing their degrees, Mr Cameron went on to explain that the way to economic success was by granting freedom and democracy. He seemed to miss the irony of his words: the prime minister of a country which will be lucky to see a growth rate of 0.3% this year, lecturing a country which is likely to see 10% growth.

I sure that Hu Jintao will be grateful for his advice, even if he is somewhat mystified by it... and for the subsidy to his students.