Today's Independent reports that the move is smart on a number of counts. "Politically it is astute for the Tories to position themselves as the friends of higher education at a time when public spending cuts are threatened. Until now it is the Labour Party that has been portrayed as the universities' supporter. The announcement acknowledges the importance of higher education to the British economy and to getting young people off the dole and into work. Offering graduates an incentive to pay back loans is a clever way to raise the money to pay for the extra places. This gives people who might not normally vote Conservative a reason to do so."

If The Independent is ready for change, then the country really is.