Parliament returns
Monday, 11 October 2010 12:01 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Parliament returns after the conference break today, with Westminster readying itself for stormy times ahead.
Lord Browne's review into university funding is expected tomorrow, and is sure to be met with howls of opposition from student groups after it was revealed it would not feature a graduate tax.
Vince Cable wrote to Lib Dem and Tory MPs yesterday saying a progressive tuition fee payment system would be investigated instead.
The review is expected to raise the tuition fee cap to £7,000.
The comprehensive spending review is the published on October 20th. Government departments are furiously trying to get their plans signed off by the Treasury before then.
The first ministers to agree their plans sat in the Starr Chamber, looking into the plans of those whose departments were still struggling to conclude their cuts.
The strategic defence and security review will also be published soon, revealing how far Liam Fox's protest letter to the prime minister has protected the Ministry of Defence from the kinds of cuts which will severely curtail the activities of other government departments.
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