Why Universities Are Going Bankrupt | Question Time

Who would have been in Rory’s cabinet if he had won the 2019 Tory leadership contest? Who is the best prime minister we never had? How Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair differed in their approaches canvassing.

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00:00 Intro
00:31 If Rory had won the leadership bid, who would be in his cabinet and what would be his top 3 policies?
5:47 Who is the best prime minister we have never had?
10:29 Is it time to cut universities from the fee cap?
17:16 Can Britain learn from the Australian Healthcare system?
20:33 - Use a sugar tax to fund the NHS?
23:37 - Turkish election
25:52 - US politics more toxic than the UK?
28:01 - Book recommendations
29:34 - Canvassing for votes
32:44 - Outro

[dadsbarmy]

Privatization has literally sold this country down the river (Thames Water pardon the pun), lets hope this doesn't happen to our Universities. Which are becoming more and more commercialized with every year that goes by.

[stephensimpson]

1:46 - Rory “pushing for midlife education”. Excellent idea. I’m a Brit now living in Sweden with my Swedish partner. She is currently “upskilling” in exactly the way Rory refers to. But the way this issue is framed in Sweden is different. Midlife education is not a service graciously offered to people in need by a benevolent state - it something the state and society provide because it benefits the economy. It is provided for free. It may also benefit individuals who get better jobs, but that isn’t the key point. The perception is that, as people gain new skills, they are better able to contribute productively - thus the education pays for itself. One of the problems with the uk is that there is plenty of education (the quality of some of which is arguable), but the uk has a productivity crisis and has done for decades. The education it provides is very expensive, those costs cannot be covered by the already overburdened tax payer since education in the uk seems unconnected with productivity. Basically, education, training and productivity can form a virtuous circle if done right. In the uk this circle doesn’t function. One reason for this is the exclusive focus on services. Fix that, then you can have high quality life long learning and training

[thelouisjohnson]

Still haven't seen a shred of compensation from my arts University after COVID, not even a bit of (non-verbal) consolation for how much face-to-face/studio learning we lost.
It's no wonder they're struggling, they're too focused on their brands and books - putting more effort into a few top (or high-paying) performers than the larger student body.

[finnmartinboanas]

How is it that Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, etc. manage to provide quality university education without charging tuition fees, whilst England charges a fortune, yet, somehow our universities are going out of business? Where does all of the money go?

[buzzukfiftythree]

I think Rory would have made a much better PM than the last three or four. But I’m very glad Rory didn’t win the leadership in 2019. OK, we had to put up with arguably the worst PMs in modern history, but it finally revealed the Tory Party for what it now is - the nasty party, with so many incompetent ministers. I hear so many lifelong Tories now saying they will never vote Tory again. That makes me rejoice!

[chocolatesugar]

Each student is paying upwards of £9k per year and they don’t have enough money???? How????

[JoeV]

As someone who has been in continuous professional development all my working life, I wholeheartedly support the push for "mid-life education". Everybody should have the opportunity to improve and enrich their knowledge. It's rewarding in every way.

[markendicott]

We "allowed" higher education to be turned into just another market - but it's not really. Nobody actually put it to a vote (just like raising retirement ages) it just happened without any real pushback or examination of whether it made ANY sense culturally or financially to do so. My Son - despite me subsidising him to the full extent i can - will leave Uni this year with about £20K of debt and an institution that's closing his course because they can't make it pay anymore. Clearly somewhere in that situation is a sum that didn't add up.

[duffybelle]

On the Sugar Tax topic: Having looked up the numbers it hasn't worked and is now ultimately just increasing the tax of the average calorie. When this came in I saw it as another example of the government not thinking about the route cause of obesity. You could consume no sugar and still be obese. There are many factors that contribute to obesity, lack of education, people are time poor, lack of health alternatives.

I would copy how food is treated in Japan. Eating out and getting take away food from supermarkets and restaurants are, quick, cheap and healthy. Lunch is a lesson in schools where children learn about the food they are eating and help prepare it. Also all food has a lower tax than most other things at 8% (UK has it at 20%).

I think all this leads to people having a more healthy relationship with food. (also as an athlete its really annoying trying to get a sugary drink and everything being diet)

[pelagionyx]

As a British emigrant to Australia (not healthcare), the thing that really sets it apart from the UK is a sense of dynamism and change. Australia - at the federal and state levels - feels like a nation that is still building itself. Infrastructure gets built, debates are had, etc. Britain feels essentially ossified by comparison.

[johanneskentsch]

There was a part in „yes, minister“ on foreign students at UK colleges. Look it up.

[mollyfilms]

Universities deserve to fail. They are a business and treat their students as fodder. They have ruined many cities with huge buildings for their cash cows called students. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if people woke up to that fact we need trades and vocational along with a proper old fashioned time served apprenticeship and not this boil in the bag 4 weeks and you’re fully trained crap.

Not everyone should do a useless degree unless it’s for a science that you can actually use or engineering or medical.
Madonna studies, media and many arts should never be taught at university degree level.

[ijw]

Working in the public sector I have seen several examples of people coming here on these student visas, barely turning up for the courses and then working illegally or through Fraud. Clearly it’s being exploited and needs addressing. If it means losing a few meaningless universities then so be it

[michelelegge]

Medical staff here (in Australia) are still abused and there is signage everywhere in hospitals the same as UK. My daughter works for WA health and does not feel respected at all they have not had a decent pay rise in years

[neighbourhoodmusician]

How the fuck are universities failing when they take in such high fees? They're like 5 times higher than when I went. Let them fail if they can't provide value and the government needs to provide ways into industry that don't depend on putting yourself into debt.

[shaneintheuk]

In my opinion it was a massive mistake to create student loans rather than a supplemental % to income tax. That way wealthy students would have to pay their share instead of hitting middle income hardest.

[lorilk]

I am also an American listener. I found The Rest Is Politcs through Pod Save the World. I agree that our politics are much worse, possibly the worst of any democracy in the world. However I also see so many people who have been awakened as a result of the Trump years. I think that this might be the year we turn a corner and start to improve.

[heliotropezzz]

Another thing about the NHS. I heard from someone in the know, that the government has told Universities not to train as many doctors, even though there are lots of unfilled vacancies. Clearly they seem to be aiming to fill the vacancies with lower qualified staff. A recent report has estimated that 285 people a week are dying while waiting to be seen in A&E. The governments policy will only make things worse. Junior doctors are the only medical staff that the government has not settled with since their strike, but junior doctors are the main ones people see in A&E. They have pointed out that they can get more pay working in a supermarket or McDonalds. That's a disgrace, and they can certainly get more by working in health services abroad. No wonder there are so many vacancies.

[Toni-qygl]

Thank you, guys . It was a very interesting and knowledgeable conversation 😊

[andybrice]

As I understand it: Universities have massively increased their hiring and spending on administrative staff rather than faculty. It's not as egregious as in the US. But it's worth asking why that is.