Glasgow students are facing prejudice at Edinburgh University and it reveals an age-old problem that hasn’t gone away, says Mark Smith

Here’s a story that might get you thinking about the way we are, the way we still are. It’s the story of a student, 17 years old, a Glasgow student heading off to Edinburgh University and settling in and going to Freshers Week and all the rest of it, like lots of other young people. But it’s also the story of some old, old prejudices, on the face of it fairly trivial but actually pretty profound. And it’s the story of how universities and the Scottish Government, despite all the chat, still haven’t dealt with the issues of diversity and class and bias.

Let me tell you what’s been happening to the student – and she’s by no means alone – and you’ll see what I mean. She’s called Rebecca, she grew up in Scotstoun and Renfrew and she was over the moon when she got a place at Edinburgh to study Spanish and Italian. She moved into halls last month, she’s been settling in, and she’s been taking her first classes which have been going well. All things considered, a great start to her new life as a student.

But wait til you hear this. She was sitting with a group of fellow newbies having a chat when one of them turned to her and said “what’s wrong with your accent? why do you sound so different to everybody else?” Rebecca explained, as patiently as she could, that she was from Glasgow and was speaking with a pretty ordinary, unremarkable West Coast accent. “We’re all from different places,” she said. “That’s why we sound different.”

Then there was the pub quiz. Rebecca was in a team with other students, a mixed bunch, and they were making the most of the........

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