The Lib Dem working peer and former vice-chancellor of Ulster University explains why he defied his party and the government to vote against the Higher Education reforms.
Some political journalists are like weather vanes – they indicate the direction in which attitudes among the pack and the political class are blowing, and hardening into established opinion. Gavin Esler’s interview with Alistair Darling on Newsnight was revealing for what it told us about the medi
After the passing of the tuition fee legislation through the Lords, many students in England feel abandoned and voiceless. They should remember the initial betrayal of their interests in 2004, when the undemocratic decision to impose tuition fees on English students went unchallenged by the NUS.
There is a vindictive streak, pleasure and glee even, on the left about the political disarray and electoral collapse of the Lib Dems. However it is not in the interests of progressive politics, or even of Labour, for the Lib Dems to collapse into anarchy or disunity.
Yesterday, the Guardian published Anthony Barnett's damning analysis of a document being hailed as the foundation of a codified constitution.
There are many different kinds of magic trick, but for all of them, one technique is the most important: misdirection. Of the many practitioners of such magic, David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, is one of the best.
Wikileaks showed that the incoming British government was desperate for American approval, perhaps they should rethink their education cuts
How could parliament ram through the fees increase in three hours plus a short session in the Lords tomorrow?
A sweeping response to Peter Kellner's argument for Labour to be the party of the British people and the call by Neal Lawson and John Harris for a 'New Socialism'
The explosive conflict over higher education demands a rethink across British society about what it should deliver and who should pay for it.
Driving the new wave of protests in England especially is a generational divide that is economic and cultural: the system traded on the alienation of the young from it but it was never mere passivity and now it started to erupt.
The Big Society must articulate its vision and define its expected outcomes, or face fading from the political landscape.
