Cllr Duncan

Green Cllr Ben Duncan, prospective parliamentary candidate in Brighton Kemptown, has offered the Green Party’s solidarity for the UCU strike taking place at Sussex University.

Ben said:
“The Green Party is 100 per cent opposed to the Vice Chancellor’s plans to cut jobs. We believe that the higher education sector needs more money, not less.

“I’m really concerned to see institutions like Sussex increasingly run as businesses; universities must have teaching at their heart, not profit.

“I find it absolutely shocking that the University of Sussex spends 2.6 million pounds on the wages of just 20 members of management staff but cannot find the funding for vital services such as a campus crèche and student health advisors.”

The Green Group on Brighton & Hove City Council earlier this year presented a successful Notice of Motion calling on the council to condemn the proposed job cuts.

The Green Party is the only national political party to demand that tuition fees are scrapped and maintenance grants restored. It also maintains that expecting students to leave university with debt that often amounts to more than their first year’s salary is unacceptable.

For more information about the Greens view:
www.brightonhovegreens.org