Dr Matthew J. Barnard (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy; School of History, Politics and Philosophy; Manchester Metropolitan University 

Election address

Our sector is in crisis. Jobs are threatened and lost, institutions face mergers and closure, and the new Government has been slow to intervene. Our trade union has an important part to play in addressing this crisis and its NEC and HEC are crucial in determining its strategic focus. The manifold dangers facing our profession come down to funding. With more funding would come fewer job losses, less precarity and less wage suppression, and therewith a better experience for our students. We must continue to pressure the Government into funding reform. Tying tuition fee caps to inflation is an important step, but does nothing to address the devaluation of the fee since 2017. It also leaves untouched the unsustainability of funding universities through student numbers during demographic decline and artificially restricted international recruitment. Real change is needed, and our lobbying of Government must also address the political obstacle in the way of genuine change: anti-intellectualism. 

Our profession has been under ideological attack for decades. Expertise is seen as something suspicious, to be judged only in terms of its cash value. Just as Socrates' critics labelled him as a layabout, pestering his betters and gazing at the stars, academics are seen as out of touch, befuddled pontificators, draining the public purse. This hostile lens distorts the crucial work of all HE professionals, casting us as inefficient, recalcitrant obstacles to progress. It is not enough for us to point out the economic boon any university is to its local economy. We must remind the public and the government that education and qualifications have value in themselves and that the pursuit of knowledge in all subjects, not just those that align with an arbitrary set of managerial priorities, enriches our society. We must resist all attempts to shrink our sector and diminish the diversity of disciplines that is the hallmark of a true university. 

In my short tenure since elected to fill a casual vacancy in September 2025, I have attended two meetings in which I have been privileged to engage in discussions and actions towards engagement with MPs and the public, alongside promoting the grassroots organisation and activism that will allow us to defend against the crises of the present and work towards a future in which our work is both funded and valued. I ask now that you elect me again to serve a full term.  

For Vice-President, I endorse Suzi Toole (FE) and Mark Pendleton (HE). 

I am a member of UCU Commons. For more information about us, visit: https://ucucommons.org/election26