Tag Archives: students

James Bliss

Betrayal of a generation

By James Bliss | Thu 14th September 2023 - 9:31 am

In the aftermath of the 2010 General Election, in which the party stood on an explicit platform to abolish tuition fees and many MPs made the doomed NUS pledge, the party took the catastrophic political decision to reverse track within the coalition to raise fees. Regardless of the individual merits of the tuition fee reforms as a policy, and however much the party went blue in the face shouting “graduate tax” at anyone that would listen, the decision – the betrayal – tainted the party in the eyes of young people and the wider electorate and was an early domino to the inevitable 2015 collapse.

However, the real lasting damage that tuition fees made to the party was not the policy itself or the 2015 election result, but that the party stopped trying to appeal to young people and many young people stopped bothering to even consider the party as a possibility.

Anyone who has been a student in the past 13 years knows the degree to which young people just do not care about the party, it isn’t anger or disgust, it’s indifference. I have spent years sitting on fresher’s stalls in vain and organising anti-Brexit activity through vapid “cross party” groups, because the party fails to hit through with young people. On paper the party should be exactly what young people want, progressive, anti-Brexit, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, pro-drug reform, pro-PR, you could go on endless ways the party aligns with the views of young people – except housing.

Housing is yet another issue that young people, by which I don’t primarily mean students but young professionals going up into their 30s, are massively affected. Decades and decades of failures around housing, be it overall numbers, density in urban areas, house sizes, planning committee nimbyism, lack of renter’s rights – I could go on for hours, literally – have left young people at the mercy of private landlords and with no prospect of ever owning a home of their own.

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Miguel Smith

Don’t waste money scrapping tuition fees: level the playing field instead

By Miguel Smith | Wed 24th August 2022 - 4:10 pm

I think at some point, every one of us has taken a hit over tuition fees; whether in a debating society, a council chamber or even on the doorstep. It’s frustrating that from every achievement we made during coalition, it is one woeful compromise that is made to define our time in government.

But despite the bombasts of Corbyn’s comrades and so-called progressives in Labour, ours is a record to be proud of. Under Liberal Democrat policy, more young people than ever are going to university, and even more of those are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Not only that but under our progressive approach, the lowest-earning 30% of graduates are paying less overall than under Labour’s broken system.

It’s easy for other parties to sit back and score political points by calling for the complete scrapping of fees, wilfully ignoring the fatal flaws seen in Scotland, where strict student caps mean the rich are now four times more likely to go to university than those from less well-off backgrounds. As Liberal Democrats, we should be going further, to build on our legacy with pragmatic, sensible and bold liberal policy to encourage, protect and inspire the country’s future doctors, teachers, and leaders.

I’m proud that we are a party that is enshrined in building a society where everyone is given the same opportunities irregardless of their background. But I also feel that is why we should be standing out from the noise and calling for bold measures to support students, such as new universal grants to all full-time students to support their living costs, at a similar scale as the existing maintenance loans (in excess of £9,000 annually).

University is a time for young people to learn and have fun, not to be mulled down by financial worries, yet 1 in 5 students in 2019 were forced to work two jobs to meet the rising cost of student living. These substantial grants would level the playing field between these students and their better-off peers who can dedicate more time to their studies because they don’t need to work.

And with 67% of students saying their mental health has been negatively affected by cash concerns, these grants would also lift considerable pressure on students’ mental well-being, reducing the strain on underfunded mental health services. While at the same time cutting the total debt students leave university with by lessening the reliance on maintenance loans.

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Mark Valladares

17 October 2019 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Thu 17th October 2019 - 7:15 am

Lib Dems: Brexit will limit the horizons of college students

The Association of Colleges has today published a survey revealing that 94% of colleges would be unable to fund student and staff mobility programmes outside of the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.

Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Layla Moran MP said:

Brexit shuts the door on students and staff studying, training and working across Europe. This survey shows that colleges simply can’t afford their student exchange programmes without the funding that the EU provides through Erasmus+.

Colleges are wary about replacing Erasmus+ with a British-led alternative because they know

…

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Caron Lindsay

Cable calls out May on inflated estimates of overseas student numbers

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 25th August 2017 - 12:00 pm

For years the Tories told us overseas students were outstaying their welcome to the tune of 100,000. Thanks to border exit checks implemented at the insistence of the Liberal Democrats, those estimates have been proven to be not even on the same planet, let alone the same ball park. Only 4,600 students stayed after their studies were complete according to official Home Office figures.

Vince Cable said that the Tories should stop harping on about cracking down on foreign students.

This debacle happened on Theresa May’s watch at the Home Office. I spent five years in coalition battling her department’s bogus figures on this issue but she responded by erecting a wall of visa restrictions on an entirely false basis.

Cabinet Brexiteers fought a referendum campaign on a flawed prospectus, scapegoating foreign students who weren’t even here, and demonising EU citizens who are now leaving the country voluntarily.

No wonder the government has announced a review into the impact of foreign students because its economically disastrous policy was based on figures that were out by 96%.

As we argued repeatedly with Theresa May, overseas students bring huge economic benefits to universities and the broader economy. It makes no sense for students to be included in official immigration statistics.

Higher education is one of Britain’s most successful export industries, we must not let it be destroyed by the Conservatives’ short-sighted obsession with immigration targets based on spectacularly wrong data.

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg cheered by students

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 11th February 2017 - 10:30 am

Six years ago, Nick Clegg was not the most popular politician amongst students. Now, things have changed as many young people find that he speaks for them as the Government hurtles towards a hard Brexit which will blight their future and opportunities. The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour watched him speak to a crowd of students last night:

In his Standard column this week, Nick described another student debate, in his Sheffield constituency, where he had a few words to say to the Labour MP on the panel:

I was on a platform with other politicians taking questions from a student audience. A local Labour MP was having the normal go at me about tuition fees. Fair enough — though I noticed he omitted to mention Labour’s own role in introducing tuition fees, and then trebling them on its own watch.

No, the moment Labour’s malaise really struck me was when this MP started speaking about the vote last week in the Commons on Article 50. He displayed none of the intelligence or humility of Keir Starmer, the shadow secretary for exiting the EU, who disarmingly confessed to the gathered MPs how difficult the issue is for Labour. Instead, in Sheffield this MP started to deliver a sanctimonious lecture to the Ukip and Conservative panellists, berating them for placing immigration above the economy in the Brexit talks.

I couldn’t contain myself. Irascibly, I interrupted his pro-European sermon to remind him that he’d just got off a train from London having voted with Douglas Carswell, Michael Gove, John Redwood and other zealous Brexiteers. How could he claim he was representing the interests of the youngsters in the audience having given his support to Theresa May’s uncompromisingly hard Brexit, yanking the UK out of the single market altogether?

I don’t believe that it would have been a betrayal of democracy if MPs had voted against the Government last week. All that would have happened, once the splenetic outrage of the Brexit-supporting press had passed, is that the Government would have been forced to come back to MPs with a more moderate, workable approach to Brexit which would then have received their support. MPs would not have blocked Brexit but they would have blocked hard Brexit. So it is pretty rich for Labour MPs to deliver pious homilies to other parties about the dangers of hard Brexit.

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The Voice

Fresh Faces and Fresh Ideas: Join the Liberal Youth Freshers’ Fair Campaign

By The Voice | Fri 10th June 2016 - 8:55 am

It’s that time of year to start thinking about Freshers’ fairs. The party’s new Youth and Student Development Officer, Vicky Nevin, told us about this year’s plans:

Freshers’ Fairs are a great way to engage new young members with the Liberal Democrats. The effort and enthusiasm young people can bring to the party is incredibly beneficial; they provide fresh ideas to old problems and spark energy into local campaigns.

Time is of the essence to begin preparations as deadlines for booking stalls at Universities/Colleges and their Students’ Unions are fast approaching. The date of Freshers’ Fairs differs from one institution to another, but they are usually held in late September. If you have a Lib Dem student society/group at your local HE/FE site, find out what they have planned, offer support and, if nothing is planned, try to encourage some activity. Contact details for Liberal Youth Societies are available here. If you do not have a Lib Dem student society/group, try to make contact with the Student Union and see if you can set something up. It will be a great shame if we miss this brilliant opportunity to recruit and motivate young people.

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G K Teh

Opinion: The impact of the Budget on students

By G K Teh | Mon 13th July 2015 - 11:42 am

 

George Gideon Osborne. Feared and distrusted by the left, the sensible and reasonable portions of his own party. And now he has given university students yet another reason to distrust him. In the Conservative majority budget issued on July 8 2015, the Chancellor introduced a barrage of attention-grabbing measures, many of which present disappointing news to youths – particularly university undergraduates.

The speculation that the first Tory budget since 1996 will be unforgiving for the young and the unemployed have, sadly, been realised. The National Living Wage (set to £7.20 by next April and £9 by 2020) is all very well for workers over 25, but will not apply to those under 25, who will still have to contend with a £6.50 minimum wage. This means that young people who have just left university will have to make their earnings stretch further to cover the rising cost of living that will result from a more robust economy, which will result from reduction in bank levies and cuts in corporation tax.

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Pramod Subbaraman

Opinion: Why I believe students should vote for the Liberal Democrats

By Pramod Subbaraman | Mon 20th April 2015 - 11:05 am

I have had a hustings with students at Edinburgh University and a meeting with the Edinburgh University Students’ Association. They have produced a manifesto and I will detail my response.

  1. They have asked for a phasing out of tuition fees and better support for the diverse needs of post graduate students. 

Obviously I couldn’t commit to the former,  But I would like to point out that raising tuition fees was a Conservative policy, one that the Lib Dems could not block!

As more coalitions are formed, I’m sure the British Public will recognise the limitations of individual manifestos as well as appreciate the opportunities for wider representation and trimming of the extremes of left and right. As for the latter, I have been personally affected and I did not do a postgraduate degree as I couldn’t afford to. Not just the fees but also the time off work in my 30s.

When we talk about high skilled jobs and a new economy we really need to also discuss how we are going to train our workforce and the skills development by means of post graduate study. We need to commit to investing in what will provide excellent returns, not just financial but also the advantage of having a highly educated population which I’m sure nobody will disagree with!

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg puts £10 million into encouraging students and young people to register to vote

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 8:54 pm

So, when there’s a certain amount of money around to encourage voters to register, what does Nick Clegg do with it?

Does he put it into a voter registration drive in the affluent ex-pat communities of Spain or does he put it into that group of people it can be difficult to find, young people and students? The latter, of course.  From The Guardian:

Lib Dem sources said Clegg, whose Sheffield Hallam constituency contains a high number of students, was “determined to ensure that the government does everything it can to help students register to vote”.

One said: “Nick Clegg has now

…

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Johnny Luk

The Independent View: Looking at ways to help student entrepreneurs

By Johnny Luk | Wed 1st October 2014 - 12:14 pm

The slogan ‘Stronger Economy, Fairer Society’ is only as strong as the policies that support it.

We, at the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), are pleased that the Liberal Democrats, in partnership with the Conservatives, have introduced a series of measures to put meat on the bones of this catchphrase.

Vince Cable’s Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) department has been busy beavering away on initiatives that help small businesses, including young entrepreneur start-ups. Young people like Arnold du Toit, who is worth £8 million in his mid-twenties after inventing a motorised golf trolley, and Jamal Edwards, whose YouTube videos progressed to a TV channel, show the kind of innovation Britain needs more of.

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Ollie Dunckley and Sam Bennett

Aber Uni Lib Dems: Football, Cakes and Glee Club Songbooks

By Ollie Dunckley and Sam Bennett | Sat 19th May 2012 - 9:59 am

You don’t often see politicians redirecting their gaze at election time. However, the Aberystwyth University Liberal Democrats spent the early days of May raising money and awareness for a disease that is renowned for afflicting young people, many of which are students.

What the AULD had planned was to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) through cross-party football, selling cakes on an industrial scale and using social media to promote their cause. It’s fair to say, we could not have expected such a successful campaign, let alone such a whirlwind of support from students and University staff.

It all …

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The Voice

Opinion: A letter from students to Lib Dem MPs

By The Voice | Fri 3rd December 2010 - 2:44 pm

LDV has had sight of this letter, written by a group on facebook, and sent to Lib Dem MPs.

Dear Liberal Democrat MPs,

We, the undersigned students, recognise the benefits of tuition fee reform and urge you to vote for it.

We see that our annual loan repayments will fall due to the substantial rise in the loan repayment threshold, and that the grants system will become more generous. We see that part-time students will no longer be forced to pay up-front fees and that poorer graduates will benefit from a rise in the repayment threshold.

We feel that the NUS, by spreading …

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The Voice

Willis challenges Mandelson over student places funding squeeze

By The Voice | Fri 19th June 2009 - 6:58 pm

The Telegraph reports:

Students are facing a desperate scramble to get into university amid warnings of a further squeeze on places. … On Wednesday night, Phil Willis, the committee’s Liberal Democrat chairman, wrote to Lord Mandelson to ask how he would meet the huge demand for higher education triggered by the recession. It represents Lord Mandelson’s first test since taking over the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Cabinet reshuffle.

Student leaders have already warned of looming chaos as thousands of teenagers leave school and college without university places or employment. By April this year, almost 525,000

…

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