Funding foresight

In this spirit, we are glad to report that education and employment secretary David Blunkett and Tony Blair, the prime minister, have won well-deserved praise from vice-chancellors for their shrewd assessment of funding issues.

In its submission to the comprehensive spending review, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals highlights both Mr Blunkett and Mr Blair's remarkable insight last year in identifying a funding crisis in the sector, thanks to the "funding cut of 40 per cent per student under the Tories". Can there be any doubt, then, that the two will persuade Chancellor Gordon Brown to release the billions of pounds the CVCP says universities need?