Browne and the CSR: it is time for Plan B (part 4)

The Comprehensive Spending Review's cuts will have grave economic and social implications for the "Big Society" beyond the college gates. With state-funded arts programmes cut to the bone, the massive student economy in many provincial cities is likely to implode. Demand for student accommodation could fall dramatically and local retailers could lose much of their trade, a further hammer-blow to regions already suffering because of the government's recent cancellation of regeneration projects.

Anthony Rodriguez, Staines, Middlesex.