24 May 2017 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
The tragic events in Manchester on Monday evening have brought election campaigning to a standstill, and rightly dominated the news headlines. However, there are a few HE-related points of note that emerged earlier in the week. We’ve had manifesto publications from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives – the first includes a pledge to restore maintenance grants, among other things, but largely steers clear of universities, according to an article on Wonkhe - while the latter reaffirms the pledge to keep students in the immigration figures, which the Conservatives will again attempt to limit to the ‘tens of thousands’. The Conservative document also claims the party will force most universities to sponsor academies or free schools as a condition for charging the top fee level – on the plus side it also promises to double national spend on R&D. Here’s what Nick Hillman at HEPI has to say.
Not to be out-publicised, Labour published a prompt amendment to its own recently-published manifesto on Sunday, promising to scrap tuition fees for 2017 starters.
