ConDems Hammer The youth
The ConDems are really hammering
the youth of this once great country, with their ‘slash and
burn’ attitude. They cut University funding and increased tuition
fees astronomically, a programme brought in by Vince Cable, against
his better judgement. He originally advocated the Graduate Tax, which
Labour and Nick Clegg thought was the right way to go, but David Cameron
slapped them all down publicly, and insisted that the LibDems should
do as they were told, and promote the higher tuition fees. Both Vince
Cable and Nick Clegg were not convinced they should vote for this
bill to go through, but in the end they had to play the pipers tune.
Education Minister Leighton Andrews told the Institute of Welsh Affairs'
conference in December that their future
funding, including being allowed to charge higher tuition fees, would
depend on a willingness to "progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration".
In response to this threat The Higher
Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) said the current 11 institutions
should be reduced to make the sector sustainable. It said there should
be no more than 6
Universities in Wales. England could be next.
The ConDems have now announced the cutting of
the Higher Education funding [6th forms and colleges], this comes
after the cutting of the E.M.A. [Education Maintenance Allowance]
A committee of MPs has warned the government that ending the Future
Jobs Fund early risks leaving youths in long-term unemployment, Gordon
Brown called it an act of "economic
vandalism”. He also wrote in the daily Mirror: "We
are still paying the price for the lost generation of wasted lives
of the 1980s. Now we have a new social time bomb in the making."The
Future Jobs Fund was created by the Labour Government in response
to rising youth unemployment at the time of the credit crisis. It
funded temporary employment for 18-24 year olds who had been out of
work for more than six months.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), produced figures showing
the net borrowing totalled £23.3bn last month, up from £17.4bn
a year ago, and more than analysts had expected. The
latest figures are likely to raise concerns about the government's
efforts to reduce the UK budget deficit. The most recent official
figures showed that the UK economy grew by 0.8% between July and September.
The CBI business group now expects growth of 0.2% in the first quarter
of next year, down from 0.3%, as public sector job losses and higher-than-expected
inflation slow the economic recovery. The British Chambers of Commerce
now predicts the economy will expand 1.9% in 2011, down from the 2.2%
growth it predicted in September. And the Office for Budget Responsibility
has said it expects economic growth of 2.1% next year, compared with
an earlier forecast of 2.3%.
With unemployment rising and inflation rising, it would appear that
we can expect to be bumping along just a little above the official
definition of recession, for some time.
Brian Wheeler, Political reporter for the BBC News, wrote a piece
exploring the statement that Vince Cable made, comparing Britain’s
coalition government to the brutal regime of former Chinese Communist
leader Mao Zedong. It makes fascinating
reading, much in the same way a horror story does.
All I can say is “I am glad I am not a teenager any more”.
Ron
Gold
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