Government stays mum over Scottish fees

THE government refused this week to say what legal advice it had received on the payment of tuition fees by non-Scottish UK home students taking four-year degrees at Scottish universities. Lord Sewel, under-secretary at the Scottish Office, told the House of Lords it was standard practice not to reveal internal legal advice. Baroness Carnegy of Lour asked whether the plans, under which non-Scottish UK home students will pay more than Scottish or EU students, contravened the Maastricht Treaty, equal opportunities laws, the Race Relations Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.