Andrew Cubie, whose report led to the abolition of tuition fees in Scotland, was having uncomfortable flashbacks last week. He told NUS Scotland's annual reception in Edinburgh City Chambers how he had appeared in the same room as a young lawyer in the 1960s, when it housed the Edinburgh licensing court. The opposing solicitor came up to him as he left, but not to congratulate him. "He punched me hard in the stomach; and as I lay in that doorway over there, he started kicking me. Since then, I've been a very strong advocate of arbitration and mediation."