There was demoralising news this week on university tuition fees, with a key announcement, writes Business Editor Ian McConnell.

This news put the SNP's Scottish university tuition fees model in focus.

There was further demoralising news this week on university tuition fees in England, as Labour announced plans for these to be increased in line with inflation on an ongoing basis.

It is all a far cry from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s previous pledge, in the run-up to his victory in the Labour leadership contest in 2020, to support the “abolition of tuition fees” in England.

And Labour’s announcement this week of further hikes in fees in England, dressed up with stuff about universities having to eventually meet “tough quality thresholds” to “access future fee uplifts”, was a reminder of how lucky we are in Scotland to have free university tuition for people resident here.

Under “social justice”, one of Sir Keir’s 10 pledges in 2020 when he was standing for Labour leader, he promised to “support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning”.

It became clear more than a year before the July 2024 general election which resulted in him becoming Prime Minister that Sir Keir was to perform a spectacular and lamentable U-turn on this commitment.

Asked about the promise on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in May 2023, Sir Keir replied: “We are likely to move on from that commitment, because we do find ourselves in a different financial situation."........

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