Two parties, two failures of logic

Two party election policies, two failures to think things through. Or, at least, to engage with realities. First, Labour announces a cut in university tuition fees to a maximum of £6,000. Why? The sum itself isn’t important. For a potential student, £6,000 and £9,000 – or £18,000 and £27,000 – are much of a muchness. If you can pay off one, you can pay off the other. The issue, surely, is whether there should be tuition fees at all. I think not. But then I also think that the number of university places should be cut by about 75 per cent.

Second, the Prime Minister announces a bunch of new measures to deprive migrants of their benefits. This is a sop to those who, like me, wish to curtail or restrict immigration. But it will do no good. Because the people from Eastern Europe who come here – the Roma excepted – have come here to work, and work hard. They don’t want benefits. And it is neither right nor fair that if, through no fault of their own, they are kicked out of work, they should be deprived of sustenance. The problem with immigration is the depreciatory effect on local wages (and of course general overcrowding). Cameron’s policies seem ignorant of this.