Oxford dons declare ’no confidence’ in Willetts, par Sean Coughlan, BBC News, 7 juin 2011

Oxford University academics have delivered a crushing vote of no confidence in Universities Minister David Willetts.

The university’s governing body backed a motion condemning the government’s higher education policy by 283 votes to five.

History professor Robert Gildea said the changes to university funding were "reckless, incoherent and incompetent".

The government insisted its reforms were fair and affordable.

In Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre, the university’s governing body - the congregation - supported a no confidence motion in the universities minister and the government’s handling of higher education in England.

’Red carpet for the rich’

In a packed auditorium, this so-called parliament of dons delivered a powerful symbolic blow to the government’s university reforms.

As the result of the vote was delivered, there were cheers from inside and from student protesters outside.

The university’s council will now write to the universities minister to pass on this official condemnation.

Academic staff, including the university’s vice chancellor, heard a series of speech attacking the marketisation of universities, budget cuts and raising fees to £9,000 per year.

Professor Gildea warned the changes would turn the university system into a "red carpet for the rich" which would take Oxford "back to Brideshead".

The warden of St Antony’s College, Margaret MacMillan, warned that the budget cuts would force universities to fill more places with overseas students.

"We don’t want to end up as a finishing school for rich students from around the world," said Professor MacMillan.

’Long game’

And she attacked a higher education policy being "made up on the fly", which made it difficult for universities to plan.

Cutting university teaching budgets sent an international message that universities were an "investment not worth protecting", she told the gathering of academics.

Paul Coones of Hertford College linked the campaign against higher education changes with protests against NHS reforms and calls to save public libraries.

He warned that the "long game" taking place was a push to move universities into the private sector.

There were also warnings that the increase in student debt accompanying higher fees would make it particularly difficult for young people to continue into postgraduate research.

Laura Kirkley, lecturer in French at Queen’s College, said this would starve higher education in the future of the most talented students.

Alexandra da Costa, an English fellow from St Hilda’s College, said university degrees would be taught "by the wealthy for the wealthy".

Students had gathered for a protest outside the meeting and the president of the university’s student union, David Barclay, argued that the move to market forces would "push some subjects to the brink of extinction".

And he challenged whether the future shape of higher education should be determined by the consumer choices of 17-year-old applicants.

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