Deliberate Confusion of Values

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Deliberate Confusion of Values

Higher Education Bill Becomes Law

NATFHE Declares Official Dispute and Academic Boycott at London Metropolitan University

Speaking at a press conference with US President George W Bush at the NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28, Tony Blair called the fraudulent handover of sovereignty in Iraq an "important staging post on the journey of the people of Iraq towards a new future".

What is this future? The Prime Minister said that the battle for Iraq and its future is "the frontline of the battle against terrorism and the new security threat that we face", peddling the disinformation that the main battle in the world today is between humanity and terrorism, and not that humanity is faced with the problem of terrorism as part of the resistance to the onslaught of US imperialism and the big powers against the peoples.

In this context, Tony Blair talked up NATO, that aggressive US-led military alliance that has as its objective the subjugation of the whole globe to militarily impose the agenda of the most powerful monopolies. As regards the values that it is supposed to defend, Tony Blair said, "And the reason why it is so important that NATO fulfils its functions in respect of Afghanistan and Iraq, is that in both those countries the same struggle for democracy and freedom is going on."

The Prime Minister said that NATO's role in today's world is to support moves towards the values of democracy, freedom, justice and the rule of law, "because ultimately our best guarantee of security lies in the values that are not values that are American, or British or western values, but are values of humanity".

Tony Blair sees it necessary to reply to the just accusation that Anglo-US imperialism and the "western" powers are imposing their values by force, as well as by deception and disinformation. He does not define the content of these values. Humanity upholds democracy, freedom, justice and the rule of law and it is proven that the US and Britain are taking the lead in trampling these underfoot in their criminal aggressive occupation and actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. On the contrary, Tony Blair upholds the values of neo-liberal globalisation, of outdated political systems which keep the people from power and the right of the monopolies to impose their dictate, and declares these are universal.

On Thursday 1st July, the government's Higher Education Bill finally completed its stages in the Houses of Parliament and passed into law. The act paves the way for the introduction of tuition fees of up to £3000 per year for students in higher education from September 2006 and is part of the Labour government's anti-social programme which declares that "education is not a right". Students will be responsible for paying off this debt once they graduate and start working. In this way the government is withdrawing from its responsibility to fund university education and transferring this burden onto the backs of students and their families. With utter cynicism, the government spokespersons declare that the government's aim is to increase the number of students from "disadvantaged" backgrounds in higher education, while commentators note that the introduction of such fees is bound to discourage students from poor families from applying for places in higher education. To make it clear that the government is determined to turn the funding of higher education into a personal responsibility of students which they must meet come what may, the act contains a clause which states that student loans will not be included in bankruptcy debts in future. Therefore, students will be liable for the  debts they have run up to pay for their university education, regardless of whether they become bankrupt. It should be remembered that the Labour party in its election manifesto vowed not to introduce tuition fees.

Responding to the passing of the HE Bill, the National Union of Students declared, " On Thursday afternoon, the Lords dropped remaining opposition to the HE Bill, bringing MPs and Peers to an uneasy consensus. The Bill has now passed to Royal Assent, with the implementation of top-up fees due in September 2006. This is a tragic day for the future of education in the UK. The Government, having lied in its manifesto, has betrayed students. With a general election approaching, NUS and the student movement will never forget what has happened with this Bill and MPs who voted for top-up fees will be fighting for their seats."

The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) has declared an official dispute and academic  boycott of London Metropolitan University  following the decision of the university to dismiss 387 lecturers on 31st August. Following the merger of the University of North London (UNL) and the London Guildhall University (LGU) in 2002 to form the London Metropolitan, the management has been trying to impose the UNL contract on all staff of the new university. This is  despite assurances from the previous provost of the LGU,  that LGU staff would remain on their contracts in the merged university.

Lecturers at LGU have voted overwhelmingly in favour of action against the management threats and bullying and held a successful one day strike on 24 June.