Robbie Davidson, Manchester Socialist Students
As Starmer’s Labour government continue to ramp up its austerity 2.0 cuts, students and university workers are bracing for new attacks. Funding in higher education reaches new crisis points every single month. 40% of institutions will enter deficit in 2026, according to the Financial Times. Students and workers will continue to pay the price through job losses, pay cuts, increased tuition fees and a brutal student cost-of-living crisis.
In-house accommodation is being used to plug the gap in funding too. The experience in Manchester gives an idea of how rents are ramping up. The Fallowfield redevelopment (University of Manchester) will see prices for housing double in 2028, with Manchester Metropolitan following suit in Ryebank Fields and Cambridge Halls.
Universities including Dundee, Newcastle, Sheffield and Liverpool Hope have all announced job losses and rounds of redundancies. Unsurprisingly, this has engendered a new resolve from students and workers to unite and fight for jobs and education! Hundreds poured onto the streets and campuses in Liverpool last week in support of their lecturers (see page 11). In Cardiff, earlier this year four hundred redundancies were announced. Cardiff Students Against the Cuts, which includes Cardiff Socialist Students, linked up with their university’s UCU (University and College Union) branch to campaign together, which ultimately saw their redundancies almost halved.
The UCU held a march attended by hundreds in London calling for more funding which should act as the launchpad for a united fightback! Socialist Students has taken part in days of action, rallies and meetings across the country since Labour’s fee hike in November calling for Funding Not Fees! We will join forces with all those willing to fight for free education, caps on our rents, stopping job losses and an end to the race to the bottom in education.
