Augar and out

Universities in England need to mobilise to mitigate the potential damage of the post-18 funding review.

There is seemingly no policy area that the present government can turn its attention to without making a bad situation 100 times worse. The world looks on in disbelief at the self-harm of Brexit, made infinitely worse through its incompetent delivery by ministers; while the Labour Party estimates that transport secretary Chris Grayling alone has cost the taxpayer £2.7 billion during his inglorious time in government.

Theresa May’s government makes Gordon Brown’s ill-fated premiership look like the halcyon days of Camelot. Like Brown, May ordered a major review of student finance. Unlike the report of Lord Browne of Madingley, the latest review of post-18 funding does not command cross-party support—and the government that commissioned it will have to live with its consequences.