Three days to the general election

Campaigning has restarted following the terror attack in London over the weekend.

The polls show a continued tightening as Labour closes on the Conservatives.

On Thursday the nation will cast its votes. As David Bell of the University of Reading argued in yesterday’s Sunday Reading, a Conservative victory would mean a cooler reception for universities. Social mobility through higher education has fallen from favour as a concept. Instead those from lower down the ladder will be encouraged to take up apprenticeships, with employers encouraged to create decent non-graduate jobs. A Conservative win would also mean a continued squeeze on international students and an enthusiastic embrace of the provisions of the higher education and research act, with the creation of new universities in England competing for the same students.