UCU responds to spending review

The union said the chancellor's decision to open his speech* by lamenting the policy of loading debts onto future generations was an unfortunate comparison considering the government's education policies.

UCU said investing in education paid off and the cuts in education risked damaging economic growth. The union pointed to a recent global report that showed the likelihood of being out of work drops dramatically the more education a person has and people who carry on studying after secondary school are less likely to be unemployed.

Over 1 million young people in the UK are classified as NEET, which means they are not in education, employment or training.

UCU President, Simon Renton, said: 'The chancellor began his speech by saying the greatest unfairness would be loading debts on our children because we were not prepared to tackle the causes. Unfortunately, loading debts on our children is exactly what the government's policies for further and higher education are doing. The coalition has forced fees of as much £9,000 a year on university students and young adults wanting to study at college must now take out loans to fund their courses.

'Today's cuts to university and college budgets fly in the face of all the evidence that says we need to be investing in education to stand a chance of competing in the global race, let alone winning it. We have over a million young people not in employment, education or training, yet the government is doing nothing to help them turn their lives around.'

* 'Mr Speaker, we have always understood that the greatest unfairness was loading debts onto our children that our generation didn't have the courage to tackle ourselves.' George Osborne's opening remarks.