Really, what were they thinking? We all expected the lecturers' pay dispute to heat up after talks broke down last week, but the university employers stooped to new lows today.
The two lecturers' unions, Natfhe and the Association of University Teachers (AUT), and the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (Ucea) were hauled before a Commons education select committee today.
The committee wanted to hear from both sides in an effort to make sense of the ongoing stalemate.
Nothing unexpected transpired. Ucea said it couldn't afford to offer any more than 12.6% over three years. Natfhe and the AUT said it wasn't enough. The committee did a little probing, asked a few questions and thanked everyone for turning up.
But it seems Ucea read a little more into it. They quickly issued a press release claiming the select committee was on their side, and went as far as to say the committee had ordered unions to ballot their members to gauge the mood of lecturers across the country.
Not true. The committee said no such thing.
Barry Sheerman, the committee's chairman, was so furious that Ucea had suggested his committee had backed their stance that he demanded an immediate apology.
Mr Sheerman then fired off a press release to clarify his position, stressing the committee had not backed the employers' call for a ballot during the hearing.
"I am hopping mad," he said. "It didn't happen. It is a total manipulation of the truth."
Did Ucea really think they could get away with misrepresenting a Commons inquiry? A dangerous game to play. Have they not heard of Hansard?
