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Students protest outside the McEwan Hall in Bristo Square, Edinburgh, in October 2020
LABOUR MP Claudia Webbe has led a cross-party call on the government to scrap tuition fees, cancel student debt and refund the accommodation rents in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Webbe’s letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, co-signed by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labour, Green, SDLP and DUP MPs, has been backed by trade unions and student campaigners.
It warns that the pandemic has left many university students in financial peril and criticises the government for repeatedly ignoring the advice of unions and scientific experts against students’ return to campuses.
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