As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Rhodes James), some of the most vigorous expansion and some of the most creative innovation in higher education have occurred in the polytechnics in recent years. They are impatient to have the right to university status. My right hon. and learned Friend and I are following with great interest the debate which, as the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) recognises, raises complex and far-reaching issues.