Labour MP ‘unpersuaded’ by calls to give universities more money

A Labour MP has been criticised by social media users after saying she was “unpersuaded” that more money should go to universities. 

Antonia Bance, Labour MP for Tipton and Wednesbury in the West Midlands, wrote on BlueSky that she was “intensely proud of the 1 in 5 of local young people who go to university”.

The post continued: “I have seen some brilliant schemes from eg Birmingham (lower offers, more £££) for [young people] who go from the least participation postcodes. But my priority has to be my 4 in 5, who get so much less help”. 

Bance was responding to an article in The Observer calling for more support for the financially-struggling university sector. The article argued that “modern Britain needs young people with degrees”. 

One user responded to Bance’s post, saying: “It's not an either/or situation. Universities are in crisis, whole subjects are being lost (e.g. Chemistry, English, History) in endless restructures.”

But in response, Bance said: “It’s always either/or. Money is really tight. I continue to be unpersuaded that more of it should go on universities”. 

She later argued that more “sustained attention” is needed to support “good careers at middle skill levels” and that there should be more help for young people who aren’t in education, employment or training [NEETs]. 

Although the government has committed to uplifting tuition fees with inflation each year, it has otherwise largely resisted pouring more funding into the struggling university sector. 

With the number of NEETs having recently reached record levels in the UK – hitting 957,000 in 2025 – Labour is widely expected to continue focusing on lower level skills over degree programmes. 

Bance, who studied at the University of Oxford, responded to another commenter who compared staff redundancies in the sector to a car factory under threat of closure. 

In response, she said car factories are “a local industry that pays good wages and employs many of my constituents directly or in the supply chain”. 

Other respondents pointed out that universities also pay “good wages” and employ many of Bance’s constituents, but Bance argued that the sector is not a big employer in her area.

“Don’t wish ill on universities, but with constrained public finance they aren’t my priority for investment,” she wrote.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com