Miliband’s policy guru in call to axe half of universities

Labour leader Ed Miliband is considering closing half the UK's universities, says his policy adviser, the Labour peer Maurice Glasman, an academic in social policy at London Metropolitan University.

According to a BBC report from a Labour conference fringe meeting, Glasman, inventor of “Blue Labour”, said that the number of academic institutions could be cut to be replaced by vocational colleges. The proposal was “part of an ongoing conversation”, though not one he expected an announcement on soon, said the report.