Debate With My Tory MP

Here is the first instalment of my debate with my Tory MP:

 

ME:

I live in your constituency but work in Cardiff University.

I trust a right-thinking man like yourself will be voting against the proposed cuts to the funding of, first English, but ultimately all UK Universities?

 

HIM:

Thank you. It is important that Universities are put on a sustainable funding foothold. Hence, the rise in the cap and the coalition's plans iaw the Browne report on HE funding.

 

ME:

Thank you for your reply. In reply I feel I must point out that University funding has proved sustainable for quite some considerable time now. If it looks like there is less money in the economy at the moment, this is because of an unjustifiable bail out of the putatively 'free market' institutions of the banking system by the Labour Government. Why not redress their reckless actions? It should after all be the banks who repay what they owe to the nation, combined perhaps with simple acts of tax collection from the straightforwardly illegal situation of tax evasion by large companies such as Vodaphone. Furthermore, I am far from alone in noting that addressing what is historically speaking a relatively small budget deficit cannot constitute grounds for implementing socially destructive policies that will denude public services and education for decades to come. So I trust you will act in accordance with what is best for a sustainable future by voting against the proposed cuts to public funding.

 

HIM:

Yes but how will the banks do that since they are only now able to re-capitalise? It is a historically high budget deficit. The universities say their funding isn't sustainable, that is high enough, and that they're falling behind compared with those of other countries.

 

ME:

Thank you again. Leaving the banking system aside for the time being, could you perhaps support the proposals published in today's Telegraph, forwarded by a very prominent and lengthy list of esteemed academics? This is a call for caution, reserve, debate and review. Here is the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/8166244/Deep-unease-in-universities-at-dangerous-haste-of-supply-and-demand-reforms.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4cf4c7eb77d7e473%2C0
I understand that you do not want to undermine the Coalition Government, but might you at least call for calm and systematic reflection and review, rather than rushing through potentially disastrous cuts?

 

HIM:

Thank you. I regret that I don't share the view that the cuts are not necessary. We have long been spending above our means. Early action has meant that our economy is now less likely to join Europe's list of the vulnerable.

 

ME:

I concur entirely. But I think we need to ask *which* cuts, on what rationale, and with what consequences. The Universities have been funded successfully for decades, and through all manner of crisis. The argument that the cuts are a necessity as opposed to a political decision does not hold water.