Edinburgh University principal: 'I came from an underprivileged background'

The principal of Edinburgh University, Peter Mathieson, has been speaking about his under-privileged background as he sets out his view that it is right to attract students from disadvantaged parts of Scotland.

He said: "If you are a kid like I was from an underprivileged background, in an under-performing school, then someone has to take care of your interests and your wishes.

"So, it's about fairness, but it's about fairness to those people with ability that may not be so able to express it.

"There is the down side we cannot take everybody and every time we take a student from a different background we are displacing somebody else."