Leading article: The case for top-up fees

So, finally ministers are coming out of the closet to state the case for top-up fees. And about time. While they have been dithering or arguing behind the scenes, the defenders of the status quo have been making hay. The great thing is that Margaret Hodge, the Higher Education minister, is spelling out at last why individuals should contribute more to their higher education. Not only is it fair for those who will earn more as a result of their degree to pay more for their course, it is also unlikely that taxpayers will foot the bill if they don't. Higher education, as Mrs Hodge said, is in crisis. We have to find a way to get more money into it without penalising those who can't afford higher fees.

Making the case for a bigger private contribution is not easy. It is never easy for politicians to take away privileges that people have enjoyed for decades – and this has been a big middle-class racket which has lasted half a century. The British bourgeoisie has been paying school fees or busting their guts to get their children into the best grammar schools and comprehensives so that they will move on to free, or almost free, universities subsidised by dustmen, bricklayers and plumbers.

The Government can expect no help from the old left. So far Frank Dobson and Clare Short have emerged to howl down the idea. More will follow. But if ministers can't get through such a policy when they have a big majority, they never will. The ground needs to be prepared carefully. We have seen this week what happens when decisions are taken without preparation. The UCL/Imperial merger is a case in point (see page 8). Sir Derek Roberts, UCL's provost, says it couldn't have been done any other way, that the opponents waited only a few hours before trying to kill it and that giving more time for debate would simply have encouraged them. Maybe. But, if one looks at how the London Met merger was handled, with much more preparation before going public, it is clear that those in charge were sure about what they were doing. Maybe UCL would never have been able to carry the staff with them. But maybe they would.