The EU has a population of half a billion people, even if UK/EU fees were dropped and all non-EU fees stayed very high, his point still stands, you'd probably s

The EU has a population of half a billion people, even if UK/EU fees were dropped and all non-EU fees stayed very high, his point still stands, you'd probably see a ton of European students flock to the UK. And seeing as there's nothing you're allowed to do to prevent discrimination between EU members, they just decided for the UK to be more expensive than everyone else. This keeps UK schools relatively british and generates a ton of money on the comparatively fewer foreigners who still decide to make the trip. It also filters out a lot of the 'bottom socioeconomic class', and that lack of social mobility for them will probably create tons of inequality and friction later down the line. Some of the rates at UK schools are absolutely insane for European standards.