Isn't there anyone willing to stand up for the English?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....harge-9-000-year.html

How can this be allowed, surely this is university apartheid?

/// They will be particularly unhappy about the EU arrangements which allow students from anywhere in Europe to get a free education, provided they are not English. ///

Is this not a breach of European Convention on Human Rights, section one, article 14 ?

/// The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.///

[Huderon]

Something similar came up in the news some time ago. The European court ruled that what this state of affairs is perfectly acceptable.

I'll get the technical bit out of the way first though. As far as I know, full time undergraduates at Scottish universities are charged tuition fees, BUT if the student is domiciled in Scotland or another EU country, in most cases the Student Awards Agency for Scotland will pay the fee for the student.

EU law says that this support has to be available to students from other EU states, but does not state that the support should be available to students from other regions within the same state. And as England, Scotland, Wales and NI are all seen (in EU law terms) as regions of one state, the United Kingdom, Scottish universities are at liberty to charge students from other parts of the UK for tuition, just as the other parts of the UK can charge students from Scotland for tuition.

Now you are welcome to see it as discrimination if you wish, I see it as the application of the law of unintended consequences. The UK government handed control of education policy (among other things) to the Scottish Parliament and introduced tuition fees at a later date. But having handed education policy to the Scots, the Westminster government could not force Scotland to follow the same line on tuition fees that they introduced.

Isn't it nice to know that our glorious leaders (of whatever stripe) really think deeply about the consequences of the things they do ?

[THECORBYLOON]

"If it is perfectly legal by EU laws for Scotland to charge only English students for their education at Scottish universities, then surely it should be perfectly legal for England to charge certain nationalities to live here? "

aog, why do you KEEP saying only the English students in Scotland have to pay?????

[grffindoor2011]

We are too soft in this country. Anyone try to get anything from Europe or Australia or the USA and you are laughed out of the country.

Someone only has to say the word black these days and they are in court for racial nonsense.

Bring back the 1970's, a time of four eyes, fatties, wogs and poofs.

[emmie]

i shouldn't laugh, its been a long day, alf garnett lives.

[DaisyNonna]

"The law of unintended consequence" Delicious description. Too many such laws though.