Keir Starmer has abandoned the target of sending 50 per cent of young people to university, but he risks extending the worst failings of universities into further education, says Iain Mansfield

Last week, to great fanfare, Keir Starmer tore up Tony Blair’s target of sending 50 per cent of young people to university. He is not the first person to reject it: the target had been previously criticised by Vince Cable in 2010, and Gavin Williamson in 2020, each at the time the secretary of state with responsibility for universities. But for the target to be rejected not just by the Prime Minister, but by a Labour Prime Minister, is a welcome symbol of change.

Some good practical measures have also been announced. Further investment in Technical Excellence Colleges, where students can learn the cutting-edge skills needed for the modern economy. New bursaries for children from poor backgrounds to study the most valuable subjects at university – funded by a new tax on international students, too many of whom are effectively buying immigration, not education. And applying the lessons of our........

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