Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Going our own way
The Conservative leader tells this morning's Western Mail that the Welsh Tories can go their own way on sensitive policies like top-up fees and increased powers for Wales:
The Tory leader said he would let Welsh Conservatives stick with their plans for university fees, even though he disagrees with it, and would not block a parliament in Cardiff if the people vote Yes.
Mr Cameron, right, said the Tories' Assembly leader Nick Bourne was free to promise not to introduce university top-up fees in the 2007 manifesto, even though he backs the idea in England.
He told the Western Mail, 'In my view, students making a contribution is the right approach, but this is a difficult issue.
'This is a devolved issue, and if the party in other parts of the UK take a different view then that's OK. You have to believe in devolution head and heart.'
The problem of course is that if he allows his Higher Education Spokesperson to have his way and impose yet higher charges on students then the Welsh approach to tuition fees will become very hard to afford. That is because, despite the significant devolution of powers to the Assembly on this issue, Welsh and English Higher Education are interdependent and policy is difficult to separate without a fairly high cost being incurred.
In other circumstances the free hand given to Nick Bourne by David Cameron would be considered to be 'Indian giving', a reference to the appalling way that successive US Governments treated the native indian population by stealing their land in return for inferior property on reservations.
The Tory leader said he would let Welsh Conservatives stick with their plans for university fees, even though he disagrees with it, and would not block a parliament in Cardiff if the people vote Yes.
Mr Cameron, right, said the Tories' Assembly leader Nick Bourne was free to promise not to introduce university top-up fees in the 2007 manifesto, even though he backs the idea in England.
He told the Western Mail, 'In my view, students making a contribution is the right approach, but this is a difficult issue.
'This is a devolved issue, and if the party in other parts of the UK take a different view then that's OK. You have to believe in devolution head and heart.'
The problem of course is that if he allows his Higher Education Spokesperson to have his way and impose yet higher charges on students then the Welsh approach to tuition fees will become very hard to afford. That is because, despite the significant devolution of powers to the Assembly on this issue, Welsh and English Higher Education are interdependent and policy is difficult to separate without a fairly high cost being incurred.
In other circumstances the free hand given to Nick Bourne by David Cameron would be considered to be 'Indian giving', a reference to the appalling way that successive US Governments treated the native indian population by stealing their land in return for inferior property on reservations.
