UCU comments on EMA vote in House of Commons

Speaking after a motion in the House of Commons that called for a rethink on plans to axe the education maintenance allowance (EMA) was voted down, the union said it was disappointed that MPs had pushed the abolition of the grant through, despite the alternative having not yet been finalised.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The coalition government has taken its attacks on education to a new level today. The axing of the EMA has nothing to do with the evidence available. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says EMAs pay for themselves and the government has not yet presented an alternative.
 
'The education secretary has not visited a single further education college and he has devised this policy despite, along with the prime minister, promising voters he would not abolish the EMA. One by one this government is abolishing the routes into education for all but the wealthiest and denying thousands of people the opportunity to better themselves.
 
'We have heard numerous articulate justifications for saving the EMA from the students who have been in Parliament lobbying their MPs today. Many MPs did not have a robust defence of the decision to axe the EMA, but voted for it anyway. That is an incredibly sad indictment of the state of our politics and will leave many young people feeling very disaffected.'