NX-Files

NEWS: Labour is writing cheques it can't cash - Bill English MP

"A Universal Student Allowance is an admirable goal and National will be making some changes to the allowance in its own, yet to be announced, tertiary education policy.

"It will be more generous than the current scheme, but won't be universal.

Awesome.  National has the potential to capture this argument and make it their own.  They can take the moral high ground by providing generous assistance on a means tested bases - therefore supposedly targeting the students that need it.  

So, if the media are consistent and respond in the same way they do to National - the headline could read:  'Nats help poor students; Labour hands over cash to rich kids'.

As mentioned in the previous post, I prefer a less than generous Universal Student Allowance.  However, given the media predilection to emotive headlines based on left leaning philosophies - the Nats have the potential to owe Labour in this debate by playing them at their own simplistic game.

Disclosure: - I actually talked to John Key about the issue of Student allowances when I meet him at the markets - and he seemed to be up with the play on this issue (which maybe an indication he has a game plan for this very scenario - is that why he sounded happy during his radio interview?)