Oxbridge unites for no confidence motion against government
By politics.co.uk staff
Britain’s two leading universities have united to declare no confidence in higher education minister David Willetts.
Academics from both institutions have expressed dissatisfaction with the “incoherent and incompetent” performance of the government and called for a historic motion of ‘no confidence’ in the government – the first time the two institutions have done so.
Nearly 150 Cambridge dons have signed a ‘grace’ declaring no confidence in the government’s policies, saying the introduction of £9,000 fees would discourage “debt-averse” students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Oxford academics took a similar step last month, in a sign of intense disquiet in the academic community about the radical changes to higher education taking place under the coalition.
University managements are keen to implement the rise in tuition fees to provide a financial boost to the institutions, but academic staff have long taken a more critical approach to the issue, usually siding with the concerns of student unions.
