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Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar delivers a speech at University of Glasgow on the need for a new political direction in Scotland, January 6, 2025
SCOTTISH Labour has an “iron-clad” committment to free university tuition, its leader has said, but warned that the status quo is not working for universities or students.
Anas Sarwar made the remarks after a weekend which saw him pledge to keep a host of policies — including free tuition fees and free prescriptions — should he win next year’s Holyrood elections.
Writing to university chiefs however, he called for the overhaul of an SNP funding model which effectively capped the number of Scottish students at the country’s universities, which fell by 10,000 last year.
He wrote: “Scottish Labour’s support for free tuition is iron-clad, but the fact is the status quo is not working.
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
Almost half of universities face deficits, merger mania is taking hold, and massive fee hikes that will lock out working-class students are on the horizon, write RUBEN BRETT, PAUL WHITEHOUSE and DAN GRACE