This morning we are pleased to announce a brand new service. We are launching Rant-A-Vision. Got something on your chest, which you want to have a rant about. Record it, stick it on you tube and then let me know and I'll post a blog on it here. To launch the service, I start with a rant from myself about Tuition Fees. I believe they should be scrapped completely and funded from Income tax. Here's why :-
Dave Hill of the Guardian called me "Incendiary". Brian Coleman called me "a deranged ranting lunatic". What do you think? Anyway hope you enjoy it
7 comments:
Another excellent idea and I totally agree with every word you say about University Fees.
The national press are reporting that some Conservative MPs are going to vote against any increase.
In addition many University Towns are trying to do the "right of recall" where only 10% of voters need to be gained against a Local MP.
That might be a good idea for our local MP - surely there are enough students and families in Mill Hill - Hendon who can sign up to recall our Local MP over this issue - we could tie it to the Libraries funding as well.
How many young people are there between the age of 16 - 18 ? around 4,000 in the area ? If each of them got just their parents and next door neighbours then we would easily get the 10,000 needed to recall the local MP.
People power is coming - and we dont need violence to get our way. Just organisation and hard work and to do it together regardless of Political viewpoint and ideology. The word to unite us is "Fairness" - and the current cuts proposals are unfair.
Brilliant idea!
Can we rant about anything though? Crazy things make me rant - living in a culture where nobody takes any responsibility for themselves, a blame culture, people texting while they walk and crashing into me, people who stop bang in the middle of the pavement to chat with the friend they just met, the cost of bread.... oh, I could go on!
Scarlett,
All rants welcome, even ones ranting about how marvellous things are.
Rog
Whilst I support the Government’s stated aim of reducing the budget deficit as quickly as possible to avoid future generations being burdened with out debts, I also believe that hiking tuition fees is a false economy as it risks landing ourselves with a massive skills shortage in the years ahead.
A nation’s prosperity relies on the skills of its workforce. If we do not teach people those skills (whether at university, higher education colleges or on apprenticeship schemes) then employers will simply look abroad, and that immediately plays into the hands of extremists.
You can argue that some degree courses have greater social/economic value than others, although that is likely to be a highly subjective argument. But it seems self evident to me that making it harder/more expensive for students to go to university is a classic case of the state cutting off its nose to spite its face. Yes, there is a cost to taxpayers to fund higher education. There always has been. But that cost has always been repaid through a combination of the income tax graduates pay once employed and the corporation tax their work has helped to generate.
I don’t agree with you, however, that higher education should be funded by increased income tax. We already pay far too much tax and most of that is wasted on a bloated stated and bureaucracy. If the state can find the money to pay the likes of Brian Coleman £114,000 a year, they can find the money to pay for higher education without dipping further into the public purse.
Ah, but DCMD, it is not the state that pays Coleman,in the sense that he is a public funded employee - it's the result of a choice made by empty headed, knee jerk Tory voters,and paid for by local taxation.
I am sure that part of the twisted logic behind the increase in fees is that it will put paid to so called mickey mouse degree courses, and restrict higher education to the middle classes. I suppose the dear old Tories think this regressive piece of social engineering will somehow produce a labour force of happy, forelock tugging workers standing by to fill in all those thousands of empty blue collar job vacancies. If only they existed.
Rog,don't preach to the converted: I hope you have linked your marvellous rant to the Libdem party website, and look forward to hearing the response from the three Libdem councillors here in Barnet!
Mrs Angry
If the great unwashed elect someone other than Coleman to office, it would be that person claiming £114,000 instead. He is not the only greedy trougher in office and this is where the problem lies. We pay for too much for things that are of no social benefit whatsoever, leaving insufficient money for the things that we actually need and will benefit the whole of society.
I don't know, DCMD: I think our friend is exceptional in many ways, and few others would feel themselves capable of, or indeed want to, grab the three roles that generate this generous income. There should be regulations which cap the number of such offices undertaken by one individual, in my view. Public service should be just that, a service taken to serve the community, and any allowances or expenses for such offices should be cut to the barest minimium. I am sure any Conservative politician will appreciate the need to support the voluntary ethos of the Big Society and allow the savings made to go towards more worthy funding requirements.
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