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Well done to Times Higher Education for exposing the hypocrisy of university leaders who plead poverty when it comes to staff pay but see nothing wrong with enjoying enormous pay rises themselves ("With retirement funds full, salaries expand", News, 10 January).

Staff now have to pay more into their pensions each month. The response from some vice-chancellors to the changes to pensions has been to employ tax avoidance experts to shift contributions and pay around, as many have already reached the tax-free limit that few staff will have to concern themselves with.

The responses from those wheeled out to defend the indefensible are as disappointing as they are predictable and insulting. How highly valued should staff consider themselves when they received a pay increase of just ?150 over the same period?

Michael MacNeil, Head of higher education, University and College Union