Lib Dems make pledge on tuition fees

Dakers and Malcolm target local student vote

The local Liberal Democrats are putting the issue of tuition fees at the centre of their campaign for local seats. With several universities and further education colleges in the area the student vote may be key in the election.

At last Thursday's Ealing launch of the Lib Dems' new Tuition Fees poster, Parliamentary Candidates Gary Malcolm (Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush) and Andrew Dakers (Brentford & Isleworth) pledged to scrap tuition and top-up fees and increase grants for the poorest students so that no one is deterred from going to university by the fear of debt.

Liberal Democrats have pledged to scrap tuition and top-up fees, provide grants of up to £2,000 per annum to poorer students and tackle student debt. The Liberal Democrats claim that student debt will be £7000 less than under Labour plans for those on low-incomes.

Andrew Dakers (Brentford & Isleworth) said, “Everyone in society benefits from well-qualified, highly-educated society. We all have a stake in ensuring our higher education sector is well funded and attractive to all our young people. In 2001, Tony Blair promised ‘We will not introduce ‘top-up’ fees and have legislated to prevent them.’ In 2004, he broke his promise and imposed top-up fees on students.

“We should not be saddling our young people in Brentford, Chiswick, Hounslow & Isleworth with such huge debts as they start out in life. How can our young people get a foot on the housing ladder while they work to pay off their £20,000 debt? How can they plan for their pension and start saving? How can they afford to start a family and the extra costs that brings when they are paying off their student debt?"

According to figures provided by the Liberal Democrats currently the average student debt is £13,501 - up 12% on last year and up 240% under Labour. The Institute for Fiscal Studies believes that the average student debt will rise to £20,000 with the imposition of top-up fees and Liberal Democrat research shows spiralling bankruptcy rates amongst students.

Gary Malcolm (Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush) said, "A recent report ranks the UK as the third most expensive place in the world to get a university education. We believe there should be no fees, no top up fees and fair grants. A place at university should be based upon the ability to learn not the ability to pay.

Malcolm and Dakers say that the Government’s own figures show no record of students in London declaring themselves bankrupt before 1997. After the introduction of tuition fees, that changed. By 2003 there were 21 cases of students declaring bankruptcy. And just one year later, in 2004, that had doubled to 68.

April 27, 2005