When Tories talk tough...

Another startling success for the Tories. At 4.pm on Tuesday, David Willetts, Shadow Education Secretary, issued a press release calling for "urgent action over university talks". Within three minutes, unions were meeting employers and agreed, after final discussions, to call off the dispute. Mr Willetts revealed a letter he had written to the Education Secretary, stating: "It is nearly a month since you called on the unions to put the employers' offer to members, and bring the damaging industrial action to an end.... We really need a much greater sense of urgency in tackling this crisis." Is this a sign of the growing influence of Tory higher education policy?