Another day, another decision for quangocrats

Should tuition fees rise?

Lord Browne of Madingley, former BP chief executive, and a panel of Whitehall insiders have today been appointed to decide, reports the Times.

So what's the point of any party including a section on higher education in their next election manifesto if these unelected quangocrats are being put in charge?  

The Browne panel have been asked to look at the challenges facing higher education and the implications for student financing.  But I thought public policy was meant to be made by those we elect.   

Is it all really all so complicated that our MPs can't master the facts and come to a decision for themselves?  If MPs really feel that they need to contract out public policy, could we not elect instead people of calibre for who it is not all too imponderable? 

Fearing unpopularity, politicians pass responsibility to "experts".  Yet all that happens is that they end up losing respect as well. 

Posted on 9 November 2009 by Douglas Carswell

Comments

Didn't the government just get upset by an expert treading on policy toes? So now we have another branch of government appointing experts to decide on policy. That's what happens when there's too much spin, everyone gets dizzy and has no clue what's going on where or why.

Posted on 9 November 2009 15:45 by David Hough

When the hell are we going to end this sovietisation of the UK?
And when are charges going to be pressed for all of the criminal activity of which their is proof.

Posted on 9 November 2009 16:07 by chris southern

If something as simple to understand as this needs to be passed out to "experts", what is the point of either MPs or the committees they sit on?

Better to spend any available money more wisely on the most able students then set phoney targets. There is no rational reason for 50% of all students to pass through University. All it does is run up personal debt, keep them off the unemployment figures, and lower the average graduate standard.

Posted on 9 November 2009 18:49 by Mick Anderson

I saw that Lord Browne has publicly made much of the fact that he has already consulted David Willets about this - so that's alright then, isn't it? Except David Willets hasn't said anything about what he told Lord Browne.

Students smell a rat that they are going to be soaked for yet more money - and as Mick Anderson points out, there are already too many of them unable to benefit by improving their incomes as a result of their degrees.

Posted on 9 November 2009 19:38 by It doesn't add up...

Well, Douglas, we could elect "people of calibre" as candidates were they not apparently decided upon almost totally by the different parties' central offices.
By all means allow parties to choose candidates but give local people a chance to choose too. If we had an Additional Member System of election we would have the advantage of locally-linked MPs chosen from the local electorate and regional party lists. The results would also ensure that the number of seats held by the parties more closely represented how the electorate cast their votes.

Posted on 12 November 2009 14:58 by John

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