The pledge signed by every sitting Lib Dem MP. Fairly unambiguous...
As previously touted David Willetts today announced the coalition’s plans to raise the cap on student fees from their current level of £3,290 to a whopping £9000 per year. This despite all Lib Dem MPs having signed a personal pledge opposing any increases whatsoever.
The announcement followed PMQs, and hilariously it was left to Clegg & Cable to sit either side of Willetts nodding their agreement as he presented future students with huge debt.
Graduates won’t have to repay their loans until they’re earnings reach £21,000 and maintenance grants for students from homes with household incomes below £25,000, will be increased from £2,900 to £3,250 a year. But that still leaves a potential shortfall of some £5,770 a year for the poorest students and an overall debt of between £15,000 and £20,000 for fees alone.
Once again these proposals are bring sold on the rhetoric of fairness, but there’s no doubt that the increased fees and corresponding burden of debt will inevitably be seen as a barrier to entry for those from poorer (and often more debt-averse) families.
President of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, accused the Lib Dems of an “utter betrayal”. ”If those Liberal Democrats don’t stick to their pledge, we will go around the country and we will chase them down. It is utterly unacceptable and this is an outrage which could decimate access to our university system,” he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/03/willetts-announces-fees-of-9000