From ALAN R. CAMINA
I was very disappointed to read Sir David Phillips’s apologia. It always
surprises me how sensible academics allow themselves to be used as frontline
troops by politicians. The technique is quite simple. Find a group of able,
well-meaning individuals and persuade them that they will be able to make
decisions. Ensure that their advice is private and give them too little
money to do the job.
The attraction to the academics is that their decisions appear to be
nonpolitical. However, since the funding crisis is politically created its
consequences are also political. All that the distinguished academics are
achieving is a smoke screen to protect politicians.
The solution could be quite simple. Accept that the major policy decisions
are political and make them clearly part of the political system. Then decisions
by ministers could be questioned both by the public and in Parliament.
Alan R. Camina Norwich
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