The Student Loan Company is making 150 staff in Glasgow redundant and transferring another 45 jobs to Darlington.
The PCS union is predictably complaining about the job losses and calling on MPs, MSPs and Glasgow councillors to fight the job cuts.
There should never have been any Student Loan Company jobs in Glasgow in the first place because it is primarily an English-only quango. Student loans are given to people studying at university in England to pay for the tuition and top-up fees they have to pay thanks to the votes of Scottish Labour MPs who out-voted the English MPs that voted against them.
Quite why the British government thought it was acceptable to follow the national insult of having top-up fees imposed on us by MPs elected in Scotland with the indignity of having the loans to pay them administered in Scotland and Wales where they receive grants to pay for their university education is a mystery.
The Scots and Welsh have profited from the English for long enough. The Student Loan Company should close its offices in Glasgow and Colwyn Bay and transfer all the jobs involved in administering the student loan tax back to England where they belong.
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Sorry Wonkotsane,
Student Loans apply to students in Scotland and Wales as well, so it is hardly an “English only quango”.
Still peddling the “it was all Scotland’s fault” I see.
I take it English MP’s who outnumber Scottish, Welsh and NI MP’s by a huge margin didn’t bother voting that day?
January 31st, 2010 at 3:24 pmRubbish. There are four separate education sysytems in the UK and four separate funding streams
(and England does the major part of paying for all of them)
education and its funding in England is completely separate from the Scottish system and our education funding sysytem should be based in England.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:20 pmSimple.
Dalriada, the majority of Englands elected representives votes AGAINST the measure.
It was only carried becuase Scots MPs voted for a measure they opposed at home.
For the recors, do you think this was fair?
January 31st, 2010 at 4:36 pmDalriada, qualified that statement with “primarily” an English-only quango. The SLC pays out grants for the Scottish, Welsh and NI governments. The student loan tax is English only and most of its business and the reason the SLC was set up in the first place.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:38 pmAnd a majority of MPs elected in England voted against top-up fees but MPs elected in Scotland voted it through even though it didn’t apply to their country.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:39 pmIf the vote of only MPs elected in English constituencies had taken place this would of been defeated by 15 votes.
January 31st, 2010 at 6:45 pmhttp://kevsoft.co.uk/votes/fees.php
Jings!.. Were you all having a party at 4:20 to 4:39 – we can go for days for postings not to receive a single reply.
Wonkotsane, part qualification accepted, yes I know the course funding in Scotland comes from the Scottish Government, but the Student Loans grant to cover a students booze, fags, accomodation costs etc, usually comes from the Student Loans company regardless of where a students is in the UK.
Terry, as for the the Scottish MPs voting it through, I think we had a long posting on this some months ago. I am afraid that there are so many (times more) English MPs compared the Scottish, Welsh and NI MP’s combined, if English MP’s didnt want it for England, all the had to do was vote against it – they didnt, the voted on party lines.
Should Scottish MP’s vote on English only matters – NO THAT IS UNFAIR..
January 31st, 2010 at 8:23 pmDalriada, you must have caught us in a Sunday afternoon post pub, pre dinner stasis (or at least, you did me).
Anyway. Yes I’m sure we’ve swapped opinions on this and you’re right, there are many times the number of English MPs and they follow the party whip rather than the will of those who elected them (in the main). But consider this, this was a matter for England and England alone …and the elected representatives of those affected by this legislation, voted against it.
To emphasise the point, just imagine the British Government proposed to create 30 additional seats in the SP and these seats were to be returned from English constituencies.
Furthermore, the First Minister and Finance Minister were to be from these English MSPs.
The First Minister would not be validated by an election: he would be there because he thinks it’s “his turn” and the Finance Minister would hold that position because he is the First Minister’s mate. They could be sure that every measure they proposed for the Scottish people would have an automatic 20-odd% of votes in their favour, courtesy of the 30 non-Scottish MSPs.
Oh, and both would have to swear an Oath to hold England’s interests “paramount” in “actions and deliberations”.
Do you think there might be few voices of protest? Do you think the people of Scotland would feel a tad annoyed? Especially if something as essential as a tertiary education tax went against the will of the Scots MSPs because of it?
I think we doth protest not enough.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:40 amIt’s all too confusing, complete independence is the only way forward. They twist they turn and there is never an answer. Stop arguing with them, just ignore them and hopefully they will all vote for independence and we can get on with our lives. yawn, yawn
February 1st, 2010 at 3:35 pmTypical jock response waste of time ……..try talk politics
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 pmcomes out gobbling like a Turkee !
The student loans company was set up by the Thatcher government in 1990, when loans were introduced to replace maintenance grants (ie money for food, rent and books).
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:25 amIn my opinion we should also press for jobs to be returned to England from DVLA, Cumbernauld and any other office which is dealing with English matters. Why the hell do we continue to subsidise these awful people and then allow them to treat us with such complete contempt. After 60 years I’ve had enough of them, complete independence and nothing less.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:38 amWe certainly see all sides of the arguements on these pages,an awlful lot of people seem very quick to flare, we must all calm down and decide do we want the complete break-up of the UK or just justice and an English Parliament, I have no wish to see the complete break-up of the Uk, nor for that matter, do I wish to see withdraw from the EU without serious thought. We can’t even fund our own defences and nor can France and Germany. Do people really want us to be satelite of the USa or China?
Discuss
February 4th, 2010 at 4:39 pmGet out of EU. Break up and get out of UK. Dust our selves down and start all over again. English for the English. England Ruled by the English. All English traitors hung by their necks until dead. No more hand outs to beggers and conmen. Nothing more nothing less.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:51 am