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The real "enemy" is the big banks. If there's money involved then they'll have whatever it is packaged up to give them a return. Prior and post-referendum there was so this talk about banks and financial market uncertainty because the banks have control of most economies - we should know, we took up their liabilities when they near bankrupted us and they are still making out like bandits. Money talks!
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Stop acting like this thread was an attack on Scotland. It wasn't. I am genuine in wanting to know the answer. I mentioned it someone else and they said it was just Daily Mail propoganda.. so I don't know what the truth is!
The UK provides money for Scotland, yes (just like it does for England). Scotland has decided that some of this money should go on providing free university education for Scottish students, yes. So I think that the initial "propaganda" is at least partially true.
I think what is misleading is the EU thing. If an EU nation pays for its students' higher education it will pay Scottish (or English, presumably) universities if they are doing the educating. The UK doesn't fund EU students. AFAIK.
There are a lot of graduates serving coffee in Starbucks etc. 30 years ago, I think it was only 20% or so of the population that went to university. That was funded properly - no tuition fees, you got maintenance grants for your living costs etc. I think we need to head back to that kind of proportion of people doing degrees.
There is a need for post school education but it doesn't have to be a full degree. A lot of people would be better off with something like an HND.
To be honest, if I had had a vote, this would've been one of the things to make me vote no. If I was Scottish there would be no way I would want to give up this saucy little package.
But as I say; I could be wrong. But if those facts are right... then the claim that England subsidizes Scottish higher education seems pretty sound to me.
Meanwhile myself and other English students are in £15+ K of debt with the student loan company for having the darn blasted termerity to not know our place!
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A generation ago the government would have been up front and borrowed the money, but they want to keep the headline figure for borrowing and the deficit lower in the short term, so they enter into a PFI which doesn't count against the figures in the short term. The problem is that you still have a liability to make repayments for 30 years - it's just not an "interest" repayment on debts.
That's part of the problem with the deficit now. We are spending billions in repayments on PFIs that were signed 10 or 15 years ago that are not officially government debt. We are still in a massive hole.
You are right. At present the government claims it is due repayments of several billion on student loans. Future governments are going to inherit the problem when a very large chunk of it is not paid off. Not to mention knock effects like reductions in VAT and stamp duty receipts etc as the repayments that are made reduce peoples effective income and what they can spend on goods, houses and so on.
In a way the Scottish approach is better because they are not storing up problems for future generations. There is still the problem of the overall funding levels and affordability though, which comes back to what I said above about the numbers who go to university.
What worries me is that our "democracy" leads to short term decisions about what will win or lose the next election. Keep the figures down now so that it looks good for the next election. You also see it in energy and transport policies. Government doesn't look enough at what will be the right long term decision over 30, 50 , or 100 years. It looks at what is least likely to lose them the next election.
The real question is why do English students have to pay in England. Answer is because Blair brought fees in and needed Scottish MPs to get it through the Commons when many of his own English MPs did back the plans. So we need a situation in which English MPs vote on English matters and can be held accountable by the people of England. How the Scots spend there money is up to them.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!