The government is preparing to step into the row over governance and dictate how Oxford should be run, The Oxford Student has learnt. Gordon Brown, widely expected to take over the British premiership next year, is a strong supporter of Oxford's proposals and is ready to step in to force changes if they are rejected. Treasury officials have already been putting regular pressure on Cambridge, who rejected governance reforms in 2002 proposed under the then vice-chancellor Sir Alec Broers.
A confidential letter produced by supporters of reform during Tuesday's acerbic debate revealed that the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), who have significant financial power over the University, was pushing for the proposals to be accepted. The letter said that the government agency strongly desired that Oxford should have a majority of outsiders to lead their Council, and that Oxford would have difficulty in explaining to it if they did not. Alan Ryan, who received the letter from Hefce, criticized the government agency for not making their position clear: "They ought to make a public announcement and behave like grown-ups. It falls well below one's expectations of a public body."
Don Fraser said: "The Government have to treat the top Universities differently as they offer different products. Why should a Labour government be in bed with neo-con conservatism?" Dons also said that they were anxious that the government would use the Charities Act, which came into force last week, to pressure Oxford into accepting an external majority regardless of how they vote in two weeks' time. Sir Derek Morris, who proposed the amendment, confirmed that the University will lose its existing status and is now at the mercy of the government regulatory body. Nicholas Bamforth said: "If Gordon Brown wants to put pressure on Oxford to reform if and when he becomes Prime Minister, then Oxford should stand up to him. The Vice-Chancellor should not be doing the government's work for the government." In 2000, Gordon Brown was criticised for interfering in the row over Laura Spence, the Oxford reject whose case became a national cause celebre. He claimed that Oxford operates "an interview system that is more reminiscent of the old boy network and the old school tie than genuine justice in our society".