Actor Brian Cox, the rector of Dundee University, has launched a stinging attack on the Scottish Government for its “cack-handed” handling of the proposed merger of Dundee and Abertay universities.
Mr Cox, a lifelong Labour supporter who gave public backing to the SNP before May’s Scottish Parliament elections over their pledge to maintain free university education in Scotland (link), said he only learned of the plans after they were revealed in The Courier.
The Emmy award-winning actor said at the time that he was endorsing the SNP because of Alex Salmond’s leadership on higher education.
Mr Cox, who was born and educated in Dundee and elected rector of the university in February 2010, added that the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government have behaved unprofessionally in the way they put forward plans for a merger.
He said: “This is a wholly, amateurish, unprofessional and above all disrespectful way to go about such a momentous decision concerning two of the most prestigious seats of learning in Scotland.
“The action in its haste clearly demonstrates a sadly ‘catch as catch can’ attitude in certain branches of Scottish Government.
“It is such a shame that a party who came to power with such compassion and consideration should behave in a disappointingly cack-handed fashion.”
He has been left outraged at how plans to merge the two universities have been put forward.
“Whether or not Dundee and Abertay should or should not be merged is not the point. In my view, the element of the Scottish Government imposing a shotgun marriage on both universities is totally unacceptable,” he told The Courier.
“There has been no proper consultation. In my position as rector of Dundee, you would think that, out of common courtesy, I would have been informed or consulted about such a proposition. But no, how did I find out? My sister in Dundee calls me to say that it was announced in The Courier.”
Both institutions have received letters from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) the body which distributes university funding telling them to begin urgent discussions over a merger.
The order, which came with a deadline of the end of October, prompted a massive public outcry, with critics suggesting Abertay’s identity would be subsumed by the larger institution.
Education Secretary Michael Russell has since insisted a merger is not the only possible outcome, but says savings have to be found.