At a time when the Country is deeply in debt I find it in comprehensible that the Government now wish to pass on some of that debt to every young person going to University.
Tuition fees have long been a principle that Liberal Democrats have felt to be wrong, encouraging debt, making buying a house more difficult for young people – not to mention providing themselves with a pension. So now, in this difficult time, the Government wishes to make this worse. This gives all the wrong messages.
Furthermore, this graduate levy is grossly unfair to English young people. Tuition fees are paid for in Scotland and subsidised in Wales. When
will English students be treated with similar fairness?
Politicians have a poor reputation for saying one thing and doing another. I sincerely hope that my Parliamentary Party comes to its senses and either abstains (as the Coalition agreement allows) or votes against something that we pledged not to do. If not, they are as bad as the rest. They deserve to be faced with mistrust. Promises are promises, pledges are pledges.
Further Education may well need some work doing on it but funding of tuition fees is a matter of priorities. Liberal Democrats need to be honourable on this one.