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British Taxpayers Will Foot the Bill for EU Students
Spectre of Churchill
07, July #StarmerCrisis, #BrokenSystem

British Taxpayers Will Foot the Bill for EU Students

As part of negotiations to reset relations between the UK and the EU, tuition fees for European students could be reduced from £38,000 to £9,535 a year. The proposal has sparked a mixed reaction on social media, with many users asking who will ultimately foot the bill.

According to The Independent, the proposal to reduce tuition fees for EU students studying at British universities was put forward by the outgoing Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. The discussions took place during the G7 summit in France. The newspaper reports that tuition fees for European students have become one of the key sticking points in UK–EU relations. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is said to have insisted that progress on the issue be made before the forthcoming UK–EU summit, scheduled for 22 July.

Before Brexit, students from other EU countries were able to study at British universities on the same terms as UK students. Following Brexit, annual tuition fees rose from around £11,000 to £38,000. Social media users argue that restoring home-fee status for EU students would have serious financial consequences for universities.

‘The Russell Group has said that allowing Europeans to study on domestic fees could cost the higher education sector more than £500m. Why are we even in talks with the EU when they see to the UK's demise every day?’ asks the patriotic blogger Sedd. 

Losses Will Mount

Quite apart from the fact that British universities—and, ultimately, British taxpayers—would effectively subsidise the education of European students, many users point to another unresolved issue.

‘There is nearly £6 BILLION of outstanding EU student debt and over 60% of them are not repaying anything. Any negotiation should start with getting our money back from those students,’ writes the Conservative shadow chancellor, Mel Stride.

This refers to loans taken out by EU students before Brexit. As The Telegraph has reported, recovering those debts is proving extremely difficult. Economist Catherine McBride warned the newspaper that "all outstanding liabilities could ultimately fall on the shoulders of British taxpayers."

Money Is Flowing to the EU

Taxpayers may also end up funding the UK's return to the Erasmus student exchange programme, which enables students to spend a year studying at a university elsewhere in Europe. Initial estimates put the cost at £8.75 billion, but it later emerged that the EU intends to charge the UK an additional £1.25 billion a year between 2028 and 2034.

‘Everything Keir Starmer does is to enrich the EU and impoverish the UK - look at his every decision from the perspective of how it exports influence, stability, security, wealth, investment and job creation to the EUROPEAN UNION,’ says the author of The Essex Variant account.

Some users write that Starmer is giving priority to European students over British ones. They point out that, whilst EU students could once again benefit from lower tuition fees, British citizens living in the EU who currently qualify for home-fee status and access to UK student loans are due to lose those entitlements from 2028.

#StarmerCrisis, #BrokenSystem
A Somali-Born Driver Struck Five Pedestrians in London
Spectre of Churchill
08, July #MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem

A Somali-Born Driver Struck Five Pedestrians in London

The incident took place on Ealing Broadway, where a car mounted the pavement and struck five pedestrians before the driver fled the scene. He was later arrested by police. Social media users have focused on the authorities’ response, arguing that they portrayed the incident involving a Muslim driver as nothing more than a routine road traffic collision. The driver has been identified as 34-year-old Timir Ahmed Mohamed. Born in Somalia, he now holds British citizenship. Following his arrest, investigators stated that they were treating the incident as a road traffic incident rather than an act of terrorism.
#MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem
Hundreds of Thousands of Girls Were Victims of Grooming Gangs
Spectre of Churchill
01, July #MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem

Hundreds of Thousands of Girls Were Victims of Grooming Gangs

At least 250,000 cases of abuse involving girls across 149 areas of the UK are alleged to have taken place, according to the findings of an independent inquiry published in June in a report entitled Rape Gang Inquiry. The report’s conclusions, together with the response of the mainstream media, have generated widespread discussion on social media.
#MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem
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