Jim Shannon

As always, Ms Vaz, it is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship. I thank the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for securing the debate, setting the scene so well and enabling us to make a contribution on this incredibly important subject. It is a matter of grave concern for the future of our people, our youth and our economic prosperity in Northern Ireland. The Minister has no responsibility for Northern Ireland, but I always like to bring a Northern Ireland perspective to debates, because what is happening on the mainland is happening to us as well. We are debating the broader systematic challenges facing higher education funding across the United Kingdom, yet, as is so often the case, the view from Northern Ireland reveals a distinct and far more perilous landscape. It is good to see the Minister in her place; I look forward to asking her at least one question, which I hope she will be able to answer. While universities in England and Wales adjust to tuition fee caps rising to £10,000, our local institutions remain strictly bound by the Department for the Economy. We deliberately keep undergraduate tuition fees lower, at £4,750, to ensure accessibility for our working-class communities. It is important to me as an MP and to our Assembly that we look after them and give opportunity for all. The Labour party wants opportunity for all, I have no doubt, and I wholeheartedly support the motivation of the hon. Member for Sheffield Central. We need look no further than the devastating crisis that is currently unfolding at Ulster University, where some 735 members of staff—nearly 24% of the entire workforce—have applied for redundancy. The university is forcing through a planned reduction of jobs to plug a catastrophic £25 million deficit. Dedicated lecturers, researchers and support staff across Belfast, Coleraine and Magee are watching their livelihoods vanish. It is gutting our regional skills base, cutting away the fabric of Northern Ireland’s future and threatening the long-promised expansion of the Magee campus in Londonderry.