Oxford University Passes No-Confidence Motion in Universities Minister David Willetts. (June 8, 2011)

The vote of the Congregation of the University of Oxford was 283 in favour of the motion of no confidence, 5 votes against the motion.

The result of "no confidence" will be transmitted to the UK government by the university's governing body, its council.

Robert Gildea, the Oxford historian who proposed the motion, described the coalition's reforms as "reckless, incoherent and incompetent", while Karma Nabulsi, a lecturer in international relations who seconded the motion said, "Oxford is committed above all to the pursuit of academic excellence in all its forms, a defence of academic disciplines without regard for market values, and the idea of education as a comprehensive, publicly-funded activity accessible to the widest number of young people."

The responses of the UK coalition government and the Labour opposition were predicable.

The Guardian reports:

Acknowledging the public snub, a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "Universities have always been bastions of free speech and debate. However, our student and university finance reforms are fairer than the present system and affordable for the nation."

Gareth Thomas, Labour's universities spokesman, said: "This is a devastating and unprecedented vote, with Oxford academics confirming what a series of independent experts and the Public Accounts Committee have already made clear; that 80% cuts, trebling tuition fees and cuts to research facilities are unfair, unnecessary and unsustainable. David Cameron and George Osborne should not be surprised by this vote. It is their economic policy and the demand for cuts in higher education, far higher than in any other area of the public sector, which has caused this debacle."