Latest UK news

Labour university policy denounced as failure
Labour policy for higher education has failed, according to a social scientist from the London School of Economics. At the British Association Festival of Science in Glasgow today, Howard Glennerster said that the amount raised by tuition fees was tiny, that interest-free maintenance loans subsidised higher income groups while cutting government revenues and that the scheme was absurdly complex.

UUK puts case for museums
Universities UK will today press treasury minister Paul Boateng for equal treatment for university museums and galleries. University museums, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, fall outside new rules that allow museums to grant free entry.

Air travel 'spreading disease'
Poor air quality in passenger aircraft is helping spread diseases, in particular tuberculosis, a London conference was told today. Martin Hocking of Canada's University of Victoria said: “Viral infections such as the common cold, influenza, measles, mumps and chicken pox are easily spread.”

Institutions back inner-city renewal
A bid to encourage private investors into run-down inner-city areas is being backed by top universities. The project, backed by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the RICS Foundation, intends to set up an urban regeneration index. The work will be done by a team from Ulster, Aberdeen and Glasgow universities.

Honour for death penalty opponent
A British lawyer is to be honoured for his work fighting the death penalty in the United States, it was announced today. Clive Stafford Smith will be presented with an honorary doctorate of law at the University of Wolverhampton on Tuesday.