Back in 2004, when New Labour reformed higher education funding, most Liberal Democrats opposed the changes. I favoured them. ‘Top-up fees’ were, and still are, a liberal solution to higher education funding. Lord Browne’s recommendations don’t change that. Liberal Democrats should think twice before opposing whatever package of reforms is presented to us in the coming weeks.
The central principle – retrospective fee-payment – is, to my mind, a small work of genius. Liberals are always poised between the principles of freedom (self-ownership and personal rights), and fairness (universal equality of opportunity as a very minimum). Higher education is thus a …
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem party members think of the party’s reponse to The Browne Report into higher education funding and student finance in England. Some 567 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results of our survey this weekend.
In the first part of our survey, we reported how Lib Dem members think higher education should be funded, and what changes, if any, would make the Browne Report acceptable to them. Now let’s look at what party members think our MPs should do about that pledge…
Sorry Nick. Sorry Vince, I can’t find the figures that back you up
Both Nick and Vince have claimed that there was no option but to reverse their pledges on tuition fees. The public sector finances were in a far worse state than they expected and they had no option.
That would be a justification that would be just about sellable to people. A promise made in good faith which became unsustainable due to information not known about at the time could be legitimately broken.
The problem is, I can’t really find much that backs that claim up.
Perhaps one of the biggest issues in Britain today is education and having heard various members of my family rant on about it, it’s one of the most emotive subjects I’ve come by. This week we have had all the talk of university tuition fees and I’ve been listening very carefully as it does affect me, but whatever level whether it be primary, secondary or further education, the Lib Dems are the people who usually stand up for our pupils and students.
In Dunfermline at the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s conference I (a very nervous young first timer) got up on the …
Vince Cable is, if you’ll pardon the pun, deep in the Browne stuff. Lord Browne’s proposed reforms to higher education funding – and overall rise in tuition fees they represent – have quite understandably upset a significant portion of the party. Cable’s whole-hearted endorsement of them has led to the accusation that we’ve gone back on one of our core principles in the name of political expediency. This accusation is not without merit, but let’s map out the situation as best we can.
Significant cuts are in the pipeline for higher education. Already this year restrictions have been placed on the …
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have looked at the Browne Report. Their conclusion raises some interesting points.
our analysis suggests that graduates with higher earnings would repay unambiguously more than their lower-earning counterparts.
Under Lord Browne’s proposals, this would for many become a 30-year graduate tax of 9% above £21,000 (with this threshold indexed in line with earnings). Indeed, for the lowest-earning 30% of graduates the actual level of fees makes no difference to how much they repay
Paradoxically, therefore, the more fees go up, the more the system approximates a graduate tax – indeed, a pure graduate tax
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem party members think of the party’s reponse to The Browne Report into higher education funding and student finance in England. Some 567 party members have responded, and we’ll be publishing the full results of our survey this weekend.
How you want higher education to be funded
First, we asked: How would you prefer higher education is funded?
Here’s what you told us:
54% – Through general taxation (as was the case before 1998)
26% – Tuition fees paid by students after they have graduated according to their earnings
The publication of the Browne report earlier this week has received a lot of backlash from the public but what angered me and many other members the most was the positive response it got from Nick Clegg and Vince Cable.
Although the report does contain some positive points, there are a few dangerous suggestions which threaten the futures of thousands of prospective students. One such suggestion was to get rid of the cap on fees. This will inevitably lead to many courses costing around £7,000 per year with some so-called ‘elite courses’ possibly costing up to £36,000 for …
Labour failed a generation of young people and students in this country. They left them with debt, with unemployment, and with a deficit worth £25,000 to each person. But in their final months they did do something to help.
Commissioning the Browne Review in Higher Education Funding reopened the debate on education in this country; it allowed those interested to have their say, and more importantly be listened to. It gave the Coalition Government the chance to reform the education system.
For Liberal Youth, our primary aim is to represent our membership, to do our best for them, and as such we …
The coalition government is busy reading through Lord Browne’s report into higher education funding. He has recommended lifting the cap on fees, currently set at £3290 per year. All Liberal Democrat MPs were elected on the understanding that they opposed any rise in fees. But is the level of fee the critical issue here? And why is a graduate tax more popular?
I joined the Liberal Democrats back in 2001, whilst an undergraduate at the University of Warwick. I joined because of opposition to tuition fees. Back then, the tuition fees I opposed were set …
Just as plays have a classic three-act structure, so too do tricky political decisions: first you rule out a potentially popular alternative, then you put out the bad news and finally you sweeten the pill as you try to avert people’s worst fears.
This week has seen Vince Cable and Nick Clegg adopt a position on tuition fees which is at odds with long held and much loved Party Policy. It remains to be seen how many of our MPs will go along with any recommendations to increase tuition fees. Already, MPs like Greg Mulholland, Julian Huppert, Tim Farron, Ming Campbell and Charles Kennedy have already stated that they will honour the pledge they signed during the Election campaign to oppose any increase.
In Scotland last weekend the positions were almost reversed, with the Holyrood Front Bench anxious to support our policy of free …
Liberal Youth Scotland has made a huge impact in the last few years. They have fought for equalities, demonstrated against the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church when they threatened to come to Edinburgh, produced many excellent motions to our Conference where their Quiz/Debate evenings have become the place to be. Their VP-Communications tells us what LYS has been up to and how it feels about the Browne Report.
Liberal Youth Scotland is one of the fastest growing movements in the Liberal Democrats today. Since April, our membership has gone up by over 60%. Over the past two years, we have succeeded in …
Tonight, Wednesday October 13, the Federal Policy Committee of the Liberal Democrats held their regular meeting.
During the meeting they held a special session to discuss the latest announcements following the Browne Review.
In a statement following the meeting, the committee spokesperson said: “FPC confirms the Liberal Democrat party policy remains to phase out tuition fees.
“We are now in a coalition government and we will continue during the period of discussion and consultation to work with our coalition partners towards achieving a policy that meets our key concerns and is progressive.”
Earlier today, Nick Clegg sent the following letter to all Liberal Democrat MPs:
Like you, I am painfully aware of the pledge we all made to voters on tuition fees ahead of the General Election. Departing from that pledge will be one of the most difficult decisions of my political career. It means doing something that no one likes to do in politics – acknowledging that the assumptions we made at election time simply don’t work out in practice. With the benefit of hindsight, I signed a pledge at a time when we could not have anticipated the full scale of …
Higher Education should be freely available to all, however in its current state it is not. Only those who are academically able can enter the current system of HE. We need more technical colleges and alternative further education institutions.
Tony Blair aimed to get 50% of people into university, by the end of Labour’s term they had achieved 45%, Lord Browne wants to go another 10% further. These are admirable aims. Admirable, but in my opinion wrong. We should aim to have much more of the population complete some type of higher education, but it should not necessarily …
The party has just issued the text of Vince Cable’s statement to the House of Commons, responding to the publication today of The Browne Report on higher education and student funding in England.
“With permission Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the future funding of higher education and student finance, in the light of the report published today of Lord Browne’s independent inquiry.
Lord Browne was asked to undertake his review in November last year. The review was set up by Labour on a cross-party basis, and that is how we want to proceed.
The recommendations coming from Lord Browne are contrary not just to Liberal Democrat policy, but to our principles.
Education is vital to liberty and democracy. ‘Great improvements in education … are the only thing to which I should look for permanent good’ said John Stuart Mill and so highlights Nick Clegg’s special advisor, Richard Reeves. So how can we support Lord Browne’s report?
It is simply not possible to hide the shock that we feel, in response to Lord Browne’s proposals to saddle students in need to loans with absurd levels of debt by lifting the fee cap altogether.
By Stephen Tall
| Tue 12th October 2010 - 12:27 pm
Well, The Browne Report is now out there, and you can read it below. Vince Cable will make a statement this afternoon setting forward the Coalition’s initial response. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems’ deputy leader Simon Hughes has just issued his reponse, as follows:
“All Liberal Democrat MPs are very conscious of the positions we have taken on higher education and the policies we campaigned for at the last election. We all have a duty to read and consider fully Lord Browne’s proposals and the Government’s response. Today will not be the last word on policy for funding higher education in England.
“All MPs should now engage constructively in questions, answers and debate in Parliament. We must also listen to the considered responses of our constituents and the wider public before we come to take our final personal and collective decisions on the best way forward.
“The test of any new scheme for organising and funding education and training for those over 16 must be whether we improve quality, increase opportunity for young people of all backgrounds and ensure a fair and progressive way of meeting the costs. It is important that government policy on higher education funding moves this country on from the present unfair tuition fee system.
“Parliament should only support a progressive system which takes into account future earnings and makes sure that those who benefit most financially from a university education contribute the most. And we must never forget that high-quality apprenticeships and training for all those who choose not to go to university are equally important objectives for a successful 21st century Britain.”
For those who want to read The Browne Report, you can view the summary here:
So the leaks from the Browne Report were right. The cap on university tuition fees will be removed. A real rate of interest will be applied. The cost of studying for a degree will reach the level of a small mortgage. Many young people will have a lifetime of debt hanging over them as they study, continuing through the years when they would hope to be setting up home and starting families of their own.
What will the Liberal Democrat MPs do now? Before the general election, Vince, Nick and the rest of the Lib Dem MPs committed to abolishing tuition fees and voting against any increase proposed. Now we will see just how strong their mettle is. I have been willing to back the coalition in all the difficult dealings that they have had. I do so as an elected councillor in a local authority with a Lib Dem majority administration, knowing that the actions of the government may not make things easy for us locally. I am not 100% happy about the coalition, but I truly believed and still do that there was no sensible alternative that would have been better for the country or indeed my party in the medium term.
By Stephen Tall
| Mon 11th October 2010 - 11:57 am
The publication of the Browne Review into university funding has been brought into even sharper focus for Lib Dems by Vince Cable’s email to party members over the weekend ruling out a ‘pure’ graduate tax to replace tuition fees.
This has sparked vigorous debate, both here on Lib Dem Voice, and beyond, with Lib Dem MPs coming under pressure to stick by their pre-election pledge to oppose any increase in tuition fees.
Some of this sound and fury has been overdone. None of us has yet seen the detail of the funding proposals being brought forward by Vince Cable, which …
Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has tonight written to all Lib Dem members in anticipation of the publication next week of the report of the Browne Review (‘The Independent Review of Higher Education & Student Finance in the UK’ to give it its official title).
Here’s what Vince has to say:
Dear Friend,
As you know, one of the most urgent tasks facing the Coalition Government is to reform the funding of Higher Education. Our objectives are clear: high-quality university teaching and research; fair access for all, regardless of background; and a progressive funding structure.
Well here we are, in the cockpit of history. The Today programme yesterday reported that David Willetts had been yanked back from the Conservative Party conference to negotiate with Vince Cable over student fees, looking for a deal before the Browne Review delivers its report.
What kind of deal is possible? This is a crucial question not just for Liberal Democrats but for the whole country because Nick Clegg holds a powerful hand and the way he plays his cards may shape the future our universities and the role they play in this country for a generation.
Former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell was one of the party’s first MPs to indicate unhappiness with the Coalition’s programme for government, stating he would vote against any increase in student tuition fees that October’s Browne review on university funding might recommend. Under the terms of the Coalition agreement, Lib Dem MPs were supposed only to abstain on any such measure.
However, this week’s Times Higher Education Supplement indicates that the Coalition’s proposals for a graduate contribution may just be enough to win Ming over:
Speaking in the run-up to the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool starting on 18 September,
Credit where credit is due, today’s Telegraph interview with Nick Clegg covers a range of substantive policy issues and gives the Deputy Prime Minister the space to give nuanced answers where the question requires them.
The biggest story is Clegg’s clear steer on a graduate tax as the way to square financial demands with the party’s dislike of tuition fees:
While David Willetts, the universities minister, said this week that it was for Lord Browne’s ongoing study to recommend increased tuition fees or a tax, Mr Clegg comes down firmly for the latter. “ children are very intimidated by levels of
If the BBC is correct there is sufficient opposition within the Coalition to stop a graduate tax seeing the light of day and instead come up with a system that is like fees, but not fees, and retains some kind of link between student and university. On that we will have to wait and see what it is before commenting.
For a decade or so now governments have been firmly fixed on the idea that students should pay for their own education. So firmly fixed, in fact, that it’s easy to forget that until 1998 Higher Education was funded from general taxation and was, to the student, completely free.
It’s true that most taxpayers are in no further need of Higher Education. But that doesn’t mean they don’t benefit from its existence. Since most tax payers will one day be dependent on a pension (public or private) it’s in their interests that the next generation of wealth …
A graduate tax is to be proposed by the Business Secretary Vince Cable, in a keynote speech on the future funding of higher education. This would mean students in England would repay the costs of going to university through taxation once t hey began working. A review of tuition fees and student finance is due to report in the autumn.
Mr Cable, who has pledged to oppose raising fees, will suggest a graduate tax as an alternative system. This would mean students’ fees being paid by the government to universities – and graduates would then pay a higher
Traditionally the transport sections of party manifestos contain commitments to various expensive, long-term public expenditure projects. In the current financial climate it is no surprise that the coalition agreement’s transport section is rather heavy on matters of regulation and bureaucracy and rather light on directly spending money to improve transport.
So we have a promise to “make Network Rail more accountable to its customers”, a commitment to “fair pricing for rail travel”, a …
As Big Ben chimes seven, it’s time to celebrate the day 151 years ago, that the famous bell was drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.
To show that cuts in Westminster are nothing new, the cost of the bell was reduced by recycling the metal from the previous, faulty bell:
George Mears, then the master bellfounder and owner of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, undertook the casting. According to foundry records, Mears originally quoted a price of £2401 for casting the bell, but this was offset to the sum of £1829 by the metal he was able to reclaim from the first bell so that the actual invoice tendered, on 28th May 1858, was in the sum of £572.
If you’d like to know what Big Ben itself has to say today, you can follow it on Twitter: @big_ben_clock.
Peter Martin @ Kira,
The words you quoted were from Peter Davies'. Not me. I wouldn't agree with raising VAT on energy to 15% right now. I'd leave it as is.
The point ...
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I'd agree if were talking about re...
Peter Martin There's really only two fiscal rules that make any sense:
1) If inflation caused by an overheating economy is the main issue, then governments should tax mor...
Peter Davies @Kira Collins You seem to have missed the bit about raising tax allowances. That primarily helps those on low wages....
David Wright According to this well-argued article (by Lib Dem councillor Mark Ellis), a simple wealth tax wouldn't work, but tax on TRANSFER of wealth could, if current tax...
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