PC 10: Tuition Fees

[Blakesley]

Is abolishing tuition fees the way to go?

[Sir Jack Anderson]

No.

[Rebecca Flair]

I am very pleased that the Conservative Party have joined the Liberal Democrat crusade against tuition fees but I am afraid that I cannot support their endeavours to replace them with a Graduate Tax. Education is a right, it should be available to all irrespective of wealth, and it should be free. But there is more that we must do to ensure that everyone has access to the top quality education that they are entitled to. The Liberal Democrat plan for university education would see tuition fees abolished but would encourage participation in the system from all sides by ramping up maintenance support (removing a key obstacle that blocks many poorer students from attending university) and doubling the Widening Participation Fund to ensure that everyone has a fair crack at a university education. Education is a right and our students deserve better than a naked attempt from the Conservative Party to throw mud at a wall and see what sticks, only the Liberal Democrats have a credible plan for universities and education.

[Rebecca Flair]

The Conservative plan for a Graduate Tax does not hold up to scrutiny on its own merits. For a party so opposed to the New Labour "stealth taxes" they seem awfully keen to throw another one on the pile for our students. How many students under Tory tax plans would pay more under the tax than under the fees? What does it say to the aspiration generation when we say "go to uni" and then punish them for doing so with a higher tax rate? The Conservative plan is, like the party at large, an incompetent, ill thought out, rushed attempt to buy votes and stop the polling slide that has been ongoing for the duration of Cowboy Croft's leadership. Students are not political pawns to be sacrificed in an attempt to breathe life into a failed leadership and a failing party.

[Will Frost]

Yes, unequivocally, it's time we abolish tuition fees.

Becky Flair is right about one thing: our nation's students aren't pawns. So let's stop treating them as a source of funding for Government spending projects by abolishing tuition fees and removing the upfront costs to a university degree implemented by the Labour Party. It's a shame, for a party that claims to be modern and liberal, that the Liberal Democrats would be bending over backwards to play Labour's attack dog. Our proposal stands up to scrutiny; students won't be required to pay back any more than their fee would have been, they will only pay if they graduate and after they've got a job, and low-income students who don't currently pay tuition fees won't pay the tax at all.

More importantly, I would challenge the Liberal Democrats and indeed all MPs to think bigger. The future of our country is on the line, and every would-be student who we deter from pursuing a university education because of tuition fees is a potential doctor, lawyer, or scientist that our country is missing out on. If you want to go to university you should be able to, and under a Conservative Government you will.

[Sir Jack Anderson]

Abolishing tuition fees would be nice. I don't think anyone could deny that, and I would love to say I had all the money in the world to abolish tuition fees. But the truth is I do not. Scrapping tuition fees does not happen at the snap of your fingers - it costs money, which is why the Tories will be placing an aspiration tax on students to fund their proposal.

As Chancellor, it is my job to prioritise, and abolishing tuition fees simply isn't a priority. Putting that money into sectors which will have our economy grow further so we can continue to invest in public services in the long term, into schools and into hospitals is my absolute priority. And in the Higher Education Sector specifically, if we want to encourage participation from disadvantaged children the evidence is clear investment must go into Widening Participation and student grants.

Taxpayers' money must be spent wisely and efficiently. As poorer people pay more of their income in tax in particular, it's very important that we make sure investment goes straight to them and that it is spent prudently. I'm resolute that I take that responsibility seriously, but after their disastrous handling of the economy last time round it is clear the Conservatives have still not learned their lesson.

[Rebecca Flair]

The Liberal Democrats stand opposed to stealth taxes and will always make sure to shine a light on them. The Labour Party's tuition fee system is a stealth tax, but it is a stealth tax with an upper limit, I find this preferable to charging students eternally for university tuition. Cowboy Croft has taken bad New Labour policy and made it even worse by removing the cap and allowing future Chancellors to treat it, and our nation's students, as a cash cow. A debt is a debt, it cannot be increased unless the student borrows more, what will Cowboy Croft say to students if a future Chancellor sees his Graduate Tax and decides to increase the rate?

[Rebecca Flair]

Sir Jack Anderson is absolutely right that spending is about priorities which is why the Liberal Democrats are prioritising the future of this nation. Students with degrees will provide a more educated workforce for the nation of tomorrow, they will provide poorer individuals with a route out of poverty, and they will provide our nation with a valuable mixing pot of ideas exposing the next generation to the ideas of tomorrow. The Labour Party used to stand for raising the poorest in our society out of poverty, erecting road blocks in the form of regressive stealth taxes prevents that even if their stealth tax is marginally less bad than the Tory alternative.

[Will Frost]

Scrapping tuition fees is the right thing to for young people, and the right thing to do for the future of our economy.

I find it hilarious to watch Labour attempt to spin a graduate tax as something negative, when it is indeed far more aggressive that the tuition fees Labour promised never to implement and then promptly U-turned on. Under our system, students only begin to pay for their university degree after they graduated and once they've recevied a job. They pay when they can, based on how much they can, rather than being faced with the upfront cost that an increasing number of people can't afford.

The Chancellor's admission that abolishing tuition fees, "isn't a priority," is a major mistake on his part. The future of our young people should be the chief priority of this Government. More students with university degrees increases our skilled work force, expands the highly education population, and increases average individual earnings. It is good for everyone, whether or not you choose to receive a university education. It'a shame Labour doesn't understand that.

[Sir Jack Anderson]

If Mr. Croft only wants those who have graduated to pay their aspiration tax, I think it’s quite unfair for those graduates to have to pay for University dropouts who will not pay a penny under their plans. If anything, their aspiration tax incentivises dropping out.