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Your diarist attributed to me the words of Ian Gibson (Diary, THES , July 5). What I said in the debate on the research assessment exercise at Westminster Hall was that it had not been proper for the government to fail to fund the RAE, that there was a pressing need to invest in universities' infrastructure and make good the shortfall exposed by the Transparency Review, and that Treasury policy on the pay of university staff for many years had been unjust and foolish.

I also praised the chancellor for the amends he has begun to make and the ministers for science and higher education for their real commitment to the wellbeing of universities.

Alan Howarth MP
House of Commons