I'm going to ask you all a favour. If you can be bothered it will take about five minutes of your time. But first the background.
On the 31st of January this year, the Right Honourable Alistair Darling MP was one of the panelists on Radio 4's Any Questions programme. A member of the studio audience asked a question with regard to the proposed increases to university tuition fees. He replied as follows (I'm including the entire quote to show how contradictory it was, it is only the last sentence that I'm really pointing out):
"The point is that if we want to send more and more people to university then it's got to be paid for. Now at the moment the vast bulk of the cost of higher education is rightly paid for by the state but as education gets more expensive, as we want to spend more in universities, then we've got to ask ourselves whether it isn't reasonable for those who benefit from university education also should contribute in some way to the cost of it. So I yjink you have to face up to the fac, yes, we want to send more and more people to university, so that the wider population can get the benefit, whether it's technical or whether it's just in the pursuit of knowledge and education, but it's got to be paid for and there's no getting around that, the question is how you pay for it and I do think it's fair that people who benefit from a university education should acknowledge that benefit and should contribute in some way towards it."
This is an arguement that is regularly being trotted out by the government, that those who benefit from the education should contribute to it. It is not solely Darling's opinion. It was however his comments that proved to be the proverbial straw to the camel's back of my patience.
In 1976, Darling graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an LLB. Before Westminster he practised as a solicitor, rising to Advocate in 1984 (a position he still holds and can return to should the citizens of Edinburgh Central decide to replace him at the next election). Irrespective of his current career path, you must admit that this could be construed as having benefitted rather nicely from a university education. I would like to see Darling put his money where his mouth is, get out the cheque book, and write one out to the Student Awards Agency paying back the grant (as it would have been at the time) and fees paid towards his education (with, of course the requisite interest).
I want every member of the current government who has 'benefitted' from a state funded education, and who is not actively camapigning for a return to free education for all, to do the same. I'm setting up a web-based campaign called PAY IT BACK (http://www.payitback.org.uk not online yet). I want to have comprehensive information on the education of each and every Nu Labour MP. I can (and have started to) pick all of this info from the web. It will just take me quite some time. This is where the favour I have to ask comes in. If you can be bothered, would you look up your MP and their educational history and email me the details (including your constituency) to add to the site. If you can't be bothered, fair enough.
Either way, thank you for your time.
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