Scotland's university funding crisis is yet another reason why SNP must reconsider universal benefits
The theoretical right to free higher education will be seriously undermined if universities are forced to scrap courses or if they go out of business
Last month, on hearing GPs in the Lothians were facing the “very real risk of insolvency”, we argued that the vast majority of people who could afford to pay for medicines would rather do so than see their local surgeries go bust.
Now SNP ministers are being urged to “urgently” convene a summit to reconsider the funding model for universities amid alarming reports about budget deficits and financial trouble at some of this country’s leading institutions.
Yet the Scottish Government remains resolutely committed to preserving free tuition for Scottish students and free prescriptions for all.
It must be said that both of these policies have ideological merits. No one should be denied a good education or medical treatment because of the cost. And a healthy, well-educated population is good for the country as a whole.
However, such arguments fall apart if those same ‘free’ services are collapsing, and means-testing benefits would only hit those who can pay.
The theoretical right to free prescriptions means little if you can’t find a GP to prescribe the medicines you need or must wait years to see a specialist; the theoretical right to free higher education has already been undermined by caps on student numbers and that will only get worse if universities are forced to scrap courses or if they go out of business.
Politicians appear shy of grasping this particular thistle. Everyone likes free stuff and, as with the proverbial frog in a pot of water slowly brought to the boil, people are less likely to be angered by a gradual degradation of public services than an abrupt introduction of fees.
However, the longer the situation is allowed to fester, the greater the dangers become. Speaking about university funding, Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie warned: “The previous model of relying on income from international students to subsidise domestic students is all but dead thanks to changes in the global economy. Greater geopolitical upheaval could easily send the system over the precipice.”
Clearly the problems are not all of the SNP’s making, but they must face up to changed circumstances, rather than stubbornly persisting with policies that are becoming increasingly counterproductive.
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