Tuition fees fiasco – latest in distasteful ideological agenda

Decisive or divisive?

Vince Cable’s stance on tuition fees is laughable. Some months ago, in what David Lammy MP brought to my attention as a choreographed stunt; Cable thrust his weight behind the concept of a graduate tax, as a fairer and progressive alternative to the current university tuition framework. Now he intends to do away with the cap on fees, consequently universities will be able to charge what they wish.

Many thought at the time that Cable had done so merely to get some much needed positive PR. Cable summoned the nations media to announce that he would wait for the Browne report, something that had already been announced and organised by the previous Labour government. In effect he was announcing something that had already been announced. It was at this PR exercise that he stated his preference, and his party’s, to introduce a graduate tax.

Fast forward three months and he has had to accept, or rather he has been made by his Tory masters, to change his mind. It is just the latest Liberal Democrat policy or idea to be thrown in the Westminster skip. It underlines the scant influence that the Lib Dems hold in the coalition government. Not only will he face a backlash from party members, who passed the motion at conference. Students and academics are planning on taking to the streets of London on the 10^th November. It appears to be the first planned demonstration by a specific social group, and I dare say it will not be the last.

It is true to say that the government do not have to take Lord Browne’s recommendations as policy, yet it looks like they will. Banishing tuition fees will permit institutions to charge what they wish. Some point out that most middle of the road/mainstream institutions will probably decide to stay close to the existing fee framework. However taking away the cap will invariably mean access to top class institutions will be dependent on wealth. George Osborne and other members of the coalition government have tried to show themselves as ‘progressive’. In regards to the student, who already faces huge debt as it stands, this is a dictionary definition of a regressive policy. Ministers are missing the point in regards to introducing a complex framework of interest rates, that come in to play when fees have to be repaid. It is not irrelevant, but those interest rates will take a backseat, especially if the amount to be paid back rises.

It is hard to see beyond initial assertions that this proposal will entrench elitism, which is already prevalent in higher education to some extent. We have heard in the past week that some children are to be classed as deserving poor, based on the actions of their parents. Now it looks like your choice of higher education institution will largely depend, not on your academic merits or qualifications, but on the size of your bank account. We would also be stupid to forget Michael Gove’s free school flagship policy, which also happens to drive primary education down the elitist route. There is a positive correlation here – they are three recent examples among many, of the clear and distasteful ideological agenda at the heart if this coalition government.

In an amusing twist, should Cable follow his heart and campaign against this rise in fees, he could abstain or vote against something that he himself has had to introduce to Parliament. For their own electoral prospects, it would be folly if the Lib Dems did not abstain, or vote against this. If this does go through Parliament, it would justify the Lib Dems as a Tory lite party…