The Scottish Government pulled out all the stops when Michelin announced the closure of its Dundee plant in 2018.
Ministers rushed to the city and pledged support, funding, and a long-term transition plan.
There was no attempt to shift the blame onto local management or deflect responsibility – just decisive intervention.
Compare that resolute leadership to the SNP’s handling of Dundee University’s financial crisis and the contrast is damning.
Instead of action, we’ve had excuses, political point-scoring, and a refusal to acknowledge the deeper funding failures at the heart of the problem.
The Scottish Government’s response thus far has been slow, evasive and utterly inadequate.
‘Direct consequence of SNP policy’
The meltdown at Dundee University is not an unfortunate accident.
The simple fact is that it is a direct consequence of SNP policy dating back nearly two decades.
The government provides just £7,530 per Scottish undergraduate, a figure that has plummeted by 22% in real terms since 2013-14. In England, universities receive £9,250 in tuition fees alone, which is often topped up with additional public funding.
As a result, Scottish institutions have been left dangerously dependent on international student fees and forced into financial gymnastics to stay afloat. Now the consequences of this broken model are wreaking havoc and the government refuses to take responsibility.
There have, of course, been serious financial and managerial failings at Dundee University. Decisions taken locally – whether on staffing structures, capital investment, or expansion strategies – have contributed to its current predicament.
But that does not absolve the Scottish Government of its role in creating a funding model that left universities like Dundee so vulnerable.
It is like an arsonist setting a house on fire and then berating the homeowner for not having better smoke alarms.
The SNP lit the match with years of underfunding and now, as the flames engulf Dundee University, ministers want to stand back and pretend it has nothing to do with them.
‘SNP journeyman out of his depth’
Higher Education Minister Graeme Dey’s feeble response in parliament on Wednesday – that the government is “willing to explore and engage” on potential ways forward – is meaningless in the face of mass job losses and a university on the brink.
When Labour’s Michael Marra called for a £75 million intervention, including a £45m repayable loan and a £30m credit guarantee, the response was tepid at best.
Mr Dey was keen to insist that universities are independent institutions, that funding decisions sit with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and that ministers cannot interfere.
Yet these same ministers are perfectly happy to take credit when investment and job creation in the university sector suits their political narrative.
Mr Dey is an SNP journeyman and clearly out of his depth, but that just makes it even more galling that Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth – who at least has talent and energy – is missing in action.
It is not an issue she will be able to duck for long.
The troubling truth is that Dundee is far from alone.
Almost every Scottish university is in a precarious position, with deficits widening, jobs being lost, and courses cut. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and even St Andrews are all feeling the pinch.
Will SNP put out fire it started – or let our institutions burn?
The warning signs have been there for years.
Universities Scotland has repeatedly called for an overhaul of higher education funding, warning that the country’s free tuition model is no longer financially viable without increased government investment.
Yet the SNP continues to insist that the status quo is sustainable – even as universities cut staff, close courses, and engage in an unseemly scramble for international student income to stay afloat.
Mr Dey told The Courier recently that these foreign students should not be seen as a commodity, but it is a reality his government created.
What’s needed instead is a stable, long-term solution that allows Scottish universities to flourish without being at the mercy of global political shifts or volatile currency markets.
That might mean looking at alternative funding models, including some form of graduate contribution, as seen in other countries.
It should certainly mean a government that is willing to take responsibility rather than hide behind the Scottish Funding Council whenever a crisis emerges.
Scottish universities cannot survive on half-hearted interventions and political buck-passing.
The SNP must decide: will it put out the fire it started, or will it let Scotland’s world-class institutions burn?
Conversation