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Tributes paid to killed soldier

Sgt Andrew James Jones was one of two soldiers killed by a bomb

The family of a British soldier killed in Afghanistan on Saturday have said his death will “leave a gaping hole in our lives”.

Sgt Andrew Jones, of the Royal Engineers, was killed alongside Trooper Andrew Howarth, of The Queen’s Royal Lancers, while patrolling Lashkar Gah.

Sgt Jones, of Newport in south Wales, leaves wife Joanne and three children.

The number of British military personnel killed in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 is now 337.

Mrs Jones paid tribute to her 35-year-old husband, saying: “Andrew was a happy, funny and caring man. He was a loving husband, father and son, and he will leave a gaping hole in our lives.”

He was serving as a reconnaisance engineer, as part of Fondouk Squadron, the Queen’s Royal Lancers in Helmand when he was killed.

Sgt Jones was a student at Lliswerry Comprehensive School before choosing to join the Royal Engineers.

He underwent his basic training in Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire in 1998, before passing the Royal Engineers Combat Engineering Course later that year.

Sgt Jones, who completed a tour of Kosovo soon after finishing his training, was sent to Afghanistan earlier this year.

The two men were on patrol in a Jackal armoured vehicle attempting to prevent insurgent activity when they were killed by a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban.

Lt Col Martin Todd, the commanding officer of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, said Sgt Jones had been a proud Welshman.

“A proud Welshman, who exhibited all the fortitude of his countrymen, he was at heart a devoted family man”

Lt Col Martin Todd

In comments on the Ministry of Defence website, he said: “His courage and good-humoured leadership inspired all those in his troop, particularly when the going was hard. He died serving his corps and country while protecting ordinary Afghans.

“A proud Welshman, who exhibited all the fortitude of his countrymen, he was at heart a devoted family man.”

Staff Sgt Nicholas Robinson, of the Royal Engineers, said he first met Sgt Jones in Kosovo.

“As a young sapper in the squadron Andy loved the ethos of ‘work hard, play hard’, especially at weekends when the squadron bar was open.

“It was a good test of our friendship when England played Wales at rugby; when England won, he would sulk for about five seconds before getting another round of drinks.”

Warrant Officer Class 1 (Regimental Sergeant Major) Leon Mattear, of The Queen’s Royal Lancers said that Sgt Jones had been fully committed to his life in the Army.

“Sgt Jones was quiet by nature, to those who didn’t know him well, a keen rugby player and an active member of the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ mess.

“He was regarded very highly within Fondouk Squadron for his expertise and experience and was always on hand to help out with any engineering tasks… an utterly dependable senior non-commissioned officer, an asset to the squadron and the regiment.

“He will be deeply missed by his friends and family within the regiment, but by no-one more so than his wife and three children; our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time of pain and sorrow.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Domingo extends LA opera tenure

Tenor Placido Domingo is to remain the director of the Los Angeles Opera until at least 2013, it is announced.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK borrowing hits August record

Nameplate of 22 Whitehall, home to several government departments

The record borrowing for August follows a jump in the government’s interest payments to creditors

The amount of new public sector borrowing hit a record of £15.9bn for August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The larger-than-expected figure came after higher inflation led to a rise in interest payments on index-linked government bonds.

However, the ONS said receipts from taxes were still rising.

The latest figure means borrowing in the first five months of the financial year has reached £58.1bn.

The ONS said the rise in the retail price index, which is used to set payments on index-linked bonds, meant interest payments almost trebled to £3.8bn last month, compared with £1.3bn in for August a year ago.

The forecast for borrowing for 2010-11 as a whole, though, remains £149bn, down from last year’s total of £155bn.

The ONS figures exclude the impact of financial interventions by the government, which reduce overall borrowing because of profit contributions from the part-nationalised banks.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Betancourt’s book recounts ordeal

Former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt recounts her six-year ordeal being held hostage by Farc rebels in a new book.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Euro decision right – Alexander

Danny Alexander ran the publicity machine for the pro-euro campaign

Senior Lib Dem minister Danny Alexander has admitted the previous Labour government made the “right decision” in not pushing to join the euro.

The chief secretary to the Treasury, who once helped run the campaign for the UK to adopt the single currency, said he felt “relieved” it had failed.

Being out of the euro gave the country extra “flexibilities” when recovering from the economic crisis, he added.

Labour ruled out a referendum on joining the euro in 2003.

The then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, stated that just one of his five key economic tests had been met, and that a public vote would only be held when it was felt joining the single currency would be in the national interest.

Euro membership has since died down as a political issue, although it is broadly supported as a long-term policy by the Lib Dem leadership.

The coalition agreement reached between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives in May states that the UK will not join or “prepare to join” during this parliament.

Mr Alexander, who was head of communications for the Britain in Europe movement from 1999 to 2004, told a fringe meeting at the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool: “In the current economic circumstances I’m relieved that we are not in the euro…

“I still think there’s a case for that [membership] in the long term, but that’s a long way off.”

He added: “I think that the flexibilities that we have as an economy are helping our economy to recover.”

Mr Alexander, who is overseeing the government’s spending cuts programme ahead of October’s spending review, also said: “The fact that the pound has fallen has a strengthening effect on external trade and that’s one of the drivers for the economy that we need.

“I think that means the right decision on the euro was made in the end.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Nine killed in Afghanistan crash

Nine members of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, officials say.

Two Nato troops, an Afghan soldier and a US civilian were also injured, an Isaf statement said. The nationalities of the Nato troops are not known.

It is not yet clear what caused the crash, but Isaf said there was no enemy fire where the aircraft came down.

At least 529 foreign troops have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan.

The toll makes 2010 the deadliest year since the US-led invasion in 2001, according to figures collated by the website iCasualties.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Arctic bird sets new age record

Library photo of an Arctic tern (Image: BBC)

The previous UK age record for an Arctic tern was 29 years, 10 months and 11 days

A sea-bird has officially become the UK’s oldest recorded Arctic Tern.

It was ringed as a chick on the Farne Islands on 28 June, 1980, making it at least 30 years, two months and 23 days old. The birds typically live 13 years.

This bird’s record-breaking status was confirmed after it was recaptured this summer on the islands, located a few miles off the Northumberland coast.

Arctic terns’ 44,000-mile (70,000km) pole-to-pole migration is the longest known annual journey of any animal.

The previous UK record was 29 years and 10 months, although the typical life expectancy is about 13 years – primarily as a result of the terns being prey for other predatory birds, lack of food or being caught in storms while at sea.

The bird was originally ringed by John Walton when he was a seasonal warden for the National Trust, which owns the Farnes.

Mr Walton, now property manager for the islands, told BBC News he was delighted when he heard the news that the chick he ringed three decades ago was still going strong.

In detail: Arctic terns

Scientific name: Sterna paradisaeaAverage wingspan of 75-85cmAdults weigh between 90g and 120gBreeds in Arctic and sub-ArcticLike swans, the birds mate for lifeLays 1-2 eggs in small ground scrapeFeeds on fish and crustaceansArctic tern’s epic journey mapped

“This bird would have flown close to one million miles, raised any number of chicks, survived predators and storms and still looks in brilliant shape.”

The new record only came to light after the information was entered into a database managed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Mr Walton explained, “then this figure pinged out saying 30 years and I thought wow!

Ringing – which involves attaching a lightweight ring with a unique identification number around the leg of a bird – is carried out to allow researchers to learn more about individual birds.

The BTO says the main purpose of ringing, which started almost a century ago, can offer an insight into trends within populations of bird species.

Lee Barber, BTO recoveries officer, said: “This is a great record but something we wouldn’t know about if this bird hadn’t been ringed.

“Without this uniquely numbered ring, we really would have little knowledge about how long Arctic terns live and breed.”

Although the tern, known as CE60645, has set a new UK record, it is still some years away from claiming the title of the world’s oldest Arctic tern that is currently held by a bird ringed in the US and reached the age of 34 years.

“Fingers crossed, this bird is good for another four or five years, which would allow us to take the world record from the Americans,” Mr Walton joked.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Paraguay president sacks generals

Paraguay's new army commander Dario Caceres is sworn in at a ceremony in Asuncion

General Dario Caceres was sworn in the new army commander

President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay has dismissed the heads of the army, navy and air force, as well as five other senior officers.

It is the fourth time he has replaced the military’s top commanders since he took office in 2008.

Paraguay’s defence minister said the changes were not politically motivated.

The sacked commanders were only appointed last November after their predecessors were fired amid rumours of a coup plot.

A statement from the armed forces announcing the changes did not explain why they were being made.

But Paraguay’s Defence Minister, Gen Cecilio Perez Bordon, later said they were aimed at “institutionalizing the structure of the armed forces”.

The overall commander of the armed forces, Gen Oscar Velazquez, who was appointed by President Lugo last year, remains in his post.

The changes have provoked some discontent among former officers.

President Lugo warned last year that some in the military were plotting against him

The former military chief, Admiral Cibar Benitez, who was sacked last year, told the Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color that the decision was an “abuse” and showed a “lack of respect” that would harm the armed forces.

But he said the military would not challenge its subordination to civilian control.

The BBC’s Valeria Smink, reporting from the region, says few observers believe there is a danger of a military coup in Paraguay – partly because the influence of the armed forces is much reduced.

Former bishop Fernando Lugo, 58, ended six decades of one-party government in Paraguay when he was elected in 2008 on a promise of reform.

From 1954 to 1989 the country was under the military rule of Gen Alfredo Stroessner, whose Colorado party remained in power until Mr Lugo’s victory.

The president – who is now receiving treatment for cancer – has since seen his popularity slump, reducing his chances of implementing reform in one of South America’s poorest and most unequal countries.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Massive blast ‘created Mars moon’

Phobos (Nasa/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Phobos is the larger and closer of Mars’ two moons

Scientists say they have uncovered firm evidence that Mars’s biggest moon, Phobos, is made from rocks blasted off the Martian surface in a catastrophic event.

The origin of Mars’s satellites Phobos and Deimos is a long-standing puzzle.

It has been suggested that both moons could be asteroids that formed in the main asteroid belt and were then “captured” by Mars’s gravity.

The latest evidence has been presented at a major conference in Rome.

The new work supports other scenarios. Material blasted off Mars’s surface by a colliding space rock could have clumped together to form the Phobos moon.

Alternatively, Phobos could have been formed from the remnants of an earlier moon destroyed by Mars’s gravitational forces. However, this moon might itself have originated from material thrown into orbit from the Martian surface.

Previous observations of Phobos at visible and near-infrared wavelengths have been interpreted to suggest the possible presence of carbonaceous chondrites, found in meteorites that have crashed to Earth.

This carbon-rich, rocky material, left over from the formation of the Solar System, is thought to originate in asteroids from the so-called “main belt” between Mars and Jupiter.

But, now, data from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft appear to make the asteroid capture scenario look less likely.

Recent observations as thermal infrared wavelengths using the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) instrument on Mars Express show a poor match between the rocks on Phobos and any class of chondritic meteorite known from Earth.

These would seem to support the “re-accretion” models for the formation of Phobos, in which rocks from the surface of the Red Planet are blasted into Martian orbit to later clump and form Phobos.

“We detected for the first time a type of mineral called phyllosilicates on the surface of Phobos, particularly in the areas northeast of Stickney, its largest impact crater,” said co-author Dr Marco Giuranna, from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome.

These phyllosilicate rocks are thought to form in the presence of water, and have been found previously on Mars.

“This is very intriguing as it implies the interaction of silicate materials with liquid water on the parent body prior to incorporation into Phobos,” said Dr Giuranna.

“Alternatively, phyllosilicates may have formed in situ, but this would mean that Phobos required sufficient internal heating to enable liquid water to remain stable.”

Other observations from Phobos appear to match the types of minerals identified on the surface of Mars. Thus, the make-up of Phobos appears more closely related to Mars than to asteroids from the main belt, say the researchers.

In addition, said Pascal Rosenblatt of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, “the asteroid capture scenarios also have difficulties in explaining the current near-circular and near-equatorial orbit of both Martian moons (Phobos and Deimos)”.

The researchers also used Mars Express to obtain the most precise measurement yet of Phobos’ density.

“This number is significantly lower than the density of meteoritic material associated with asteroids. It implies a sponge-like structure with voids making up 25%-45% in Phobos’s interior,” said Dr Rosenblatt.

A highly porous asteroid would have probably not survived if captured by Mars. Alternatively, such a highly porous structure on Phobos could have resulted from the re-accretion of rocky blocks in Mars’ orbit.

Russia’s robotic mission to Phobos, named Phobos-Grunt (grunt means ground , or earth, in Russian) to be launched in 2011, will investigate the moon’s composition in more detail.

The study has been submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Planetary and Space Science. It was presented at the 2010 European Planetary Science Congress in Rome.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Summit on illegal tobacco trade

A packet of cigarettes with the duty paid mark

Det Sgt Orr said the illegal tobacco trade funds criminals’ lavish lifestyles

The illegal tobacco trade and its links to organised crime will be the focus of a summit in Perth.

Retailers, police and health representatives will attend the one-day conference at the town’s concert hall.

Det Sgt Allan Orr of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency will tell delegates that the illicit tobacco trade was not a victimless crime.

He said those behind it were often involved in drug dealing and human trafficking.

Discussions at the summit will form the basis of a report which will be presented to the Scottish government, along with key recommendations on reducing the supply and consumption of smuggled and counterfeit tobacco.

Det Sgt Orr said: “The commodity is not important to these criminals, so long as it generates profits for them.

“The money raised from this trade is benefiting no-one other than the criminals behind it, many of whom live lavish lifestyles funded by their illegal activities.”

The event is being chaired by Professor Gerard Hastings, director of the Institute for Social Marketing at Stirling University.

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of Ash Scotland, said: “The selling of illicit cigarettes, whether smuggled or counterfeit, is an issue for all of us.

“Illegal sales undermine legislation and public health messages that aim to encourage smokers to quit and prevent our children from starting.

“In addition, it brings crime to our streets and communities, making them less safe for all of us.

“I hope this summit, which brings a varied and wide group of stakeholders for the first time, will propose clear ways forward to reduce the problem of illicit tobacco on our streets.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Man dies after being hit by train

A man was seriously injured when he was struck by a train at Clapham Junction station in south London.

Police were called to the incident involving the 1823 BST Waterloo to Basingstoke service at 1835 BST on Monday evening.

The incident, which is causing disruption to services running through the station, is being treated by police as non-suspicious.

Any witnesses have been asked to contact British Transport Police.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Seagulls ‘may spread superbugs’

The birds are opportunistic feeders

Scientists fear migratory birds may be spreading hard-to-treat infections after discovering seagulls can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Portuguese researchers analysed 57 samples of droppings from the yellow-legged Caspian Gull Larus Cachinnans.

They found that one in 10 harboured bacteria resistant to a common antibiotic called vancomycin.

They told Proteome Science journal the birds probably pick up the infection from eating scraps in human garbage.

Plants endure Chernobyl radiation

The city of Pripyat has been abandoned and dubbed a “dead city”

Scientists have uncovered mechanisms that allow plants to thrive in highly radioactive environments like Chernobyl.

They analysed seeds from soybean and flax grown near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which was hit by a series of explosions in 1986.

“It is just unbelievable how quickly this ecosystem has been able to adapt”

Martin Hajduch Slovak Academy of Sciences

The team says that plants may have an innate ability to cope with radioactivity.

The study appears in the Environmental Science and Technology journal.

One of the researchers speculates that such mechanisms could trace back millions of years, when early life forms were exposed to higher levels of natural radiation.

‘Worst’ accident

If a disaster strikes, plants cannot move to better conditions – they either adapt, or die.

When, on 26 April, 1986, a series of explosions ripped through one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the accident was said to be the worst nuclear disaster in human history.

Scores of people died, hundreds became ill with acute radiation sickness.

The entire population of the industrial city of Pripyat that housed the power plant’s workforce was evacuated.

Many believed that the area would remain lifeless for generations.

Almost a quarter of a century later, Pripyat remains a ghost town. But despite deserted streets, the soil is not bare – trees and plants have sprung back to life.

Plants ‘thriving’

The way Pripyat’s ecosystem seemed to shrug off the contamination caught the attention of the scientific world and in 2005, the UN even published a report about the phenomenon.

Then, in 2007, a group of researchers wearing masks, goggles and gloves decided to investigate just how the plants were able to survive.

Soybean plant appears to thrive in contaminated soil

They went into the restricted area and planted soybean and flax seeds on a highly contaminated field just a few kilometres from the site of the accident, in the environs of Pripyat.

Then they sowed the same kind of seeds on a control field in the decontaminated region near the city of Chernobyl.

One of the researchers, Martin Hajduch from the Slovak Academy of Sciences, told BBC News that even though previous studies had analysed how genes mutated because of radioactivity, his team wanted to do something different.

They wanted to investigate the molecular mechanisms allowing plants to adapt to such a contaminated environment.

To do that, they waited for the plants to grow and produce new seeds and then examined their proteins.

“We decided to apply a… methodology called ‘proteomics’ that is capable of identifying hundreds of proteins,” said Dr Hajduch.

He explained that proteomics was a study of proteins – vital parts of all living organisms. The word “proteome” is actually a blend of “protein” and “genome” and describes the entire complement of proteins produced by an organism’s genes.

“Proteins are fingerprints of metabolic activities. And as we’re comparing the proteins from seeds harvested from these two fields, we’re seeing the same ones in both kinds of seeds.”

He said that even though both soybean and flax adapted equally well to the contaminated environment, they did it in slightly different ways.

“In soybean, we detected the mobilisation of seed storage proteins and processes similar to what we see when plants adapt [to high levels of] heavy metals,” he explained.

“In flax it was different. We saw more proteins involved in cell signaling, for instance.”

Scientists had to wear masks, goggles and gloves to work in the area

The scientist noted that there were probably historic reasons why it was a lot easier for plants to get used to living in increased levels of radiation.

“It is just unbelievable how quickly this ecosystem has been able to adapt,” he said.

“[There must be] some kind of mechanism that plants already have inside them. Radioactivity has always been present here on Earth, from the very early stages of our planet’s formation.

“There was a lot more radioactivity on the surface back then than there is now, so probably when life was evolving, these plants came across radioactivity and they probably developed some mechanism that is now in them.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Restrictions on new drivers urged

The number of UK road deaths has fallen to a new low.

Newly qualified young drivers should be banned from night-time motoring and carrying passengers of a similar age, Cardiff University researchers say.

They said such “graduated driver licensing” for those aged 17-24 could save more than 200 lives and result in 1,700 fewer serious injuries each year.

Similar schemes already exist in New Zealand, Australia and parts of the US.

But motoring organisations say the restrictions – which could last up to two years – would difficult to enforce.

“Graduated driver licensing works in other countries and there’s no good reason why it wouldn’t work here”

Dr Sarah Jones Cardiff University

The research will be presented at the World Safety Conference, which will hear from other experts on how road safety could be improved.

While road deaths have now fallen to an all-time low, 2,222 people still died on the roads last year.

Experts at the London conference will argue this figure can be reduced even lower with more restrictions and greater awareness of risks.

The Cardiff University study was compiled after analysing road accident data from 2000 to 2007.

Research suggests one in five new drivers crashes within the first six months. The Cardiff team says that by targeting them with graduated driver licensing, many accidents might be avoided.

Cutting the UK’s accident rate would also save the economy £890m, the team estimates.

Dr Sarah Jones, who led the research, said: “Graduated driver licensing works in other countries and there’s no good reason why it wouldn’t work here.”

She said restrictions on new drivers could be in force for as long as two years and could also include a total ban on alcohol.

But the head of road safety at the AA, Andrew Howard, suggested while there would be benefits to graduated driver licensing, they could be outweighed by the disadvantages.

He said it could penalise those who work at night and need to drive, while police may struggle to crack down on those who flout the rules.

“It would give totally the wrong signals to introduce new laws aimed at young people and then not enforce them – many would feel that all motoring laws could be broken,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also cast doubt over whether the scheme could be properly enforced.

She said she wanted to see more evidence about how it would work in the UK, adding that improving education and awareness with further training for new drivers might be more beneficial.

University of London experts will also put the case for more 20mph zones, arguing it could help reduce injuries – particularly in deprived areas.

Their research will show that those in deprived areas are twice as likely to be killed or injured than those in affluent areas.

The Department for Transport said most new drivers wanted to be responsible, but a small minority put themselves and others at risk.

It said a new independent driving element would be added to the current test, allowing candidates to demonstrate their ability to be safe in more realistic situations.

A spokesman said: “We are considering what other steps we can take to improve safety for new drivers.

“In doing so, we need to ensure we do not unfairly penalise responsible young people who rely on driving to get to work or college.”

Meanwhile, the Tune into Traffic campaign group will stress the dangers of listening to music while driving and walking.

Tune into Traffic’s Manpreet Darroch, who has helped produce an advert warning about the risks of being distracted by music, said: “This is of particular importance as the usage of iPods and MP3 players has significantly increased and young people’s lives are being destroyed unnecessarily.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

University boss in funding plea

Graduates may have to pay for their education once they are working

The principal of a leading Scottish university has said that a graduate tax could be one way of helping to fund the country’s higher education sector.

Professor Anton Muscatelli believes the current fiscal crisis has emphasised the need for a fresh revenue.

He said up-front tuition fees were incompatible with Scotland’s philosophy of higher education.

But Prof Muscatelli has instead argued that those who earn more after graduating should contribute more.

He denied that the suggestion for a graduate tax or a graduate contribution was tuition fees by the back door.

The academic, who is on the executive of the umbrella body Universities UK, suggested that allowing the public purse to continue to pay the full costs of higher education was not sustainable unless the sector became a higher priority for funds.

In general, Scottish universities are concerned that cash problems may lead to them falling behind their counterparts around the world, notably in England where tuition fees are expected to rise.

Scottish students pay no charges at all for tuition.

Prof Muscatelli believes the time is right to consider whether students should make a contribution.

However, he insisted that if it happened it should be payable once students have graduated and are earning salaries.

Top priority

Scottish ministers have ruled out fees before graduation but they appear open to ideas regarding changes to university funding.

Prof Muscatelli said: “There is no reason to go down the route of tuition fees, up-front. It’s certainly incompatible with Scotland’s philosophy of higher education.”

He added: “Unless the public sector wants to make higher education a top priority then we have to look to other solutions and this could be either a graduate contribution or it could be a graduate tax. But we have to look at all of these alternatives.

“Graduate taxation would be a tax that applied only to graduates after they graduate and based on the ability to pay – and a graduate contribution would be very similar in some respects.”

Prof Muscatelli said some of the money from the graduate contribution might help provide bursaries for students who need extra help.

He went on to say that the debate was not for his university alone but for the country as a whole and “how it invests in higher education”.

The principal said Scotland currently had a level of funding which matched England but his plea for change was focused on the next five to 10 years.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.