As the House of Commons narrowly voted to support the coalition government’s plans to raise university tuition fees in England to £9000, a huge rebellion by members of the Liberal Democrat party signalled deep rifts and disarray. They may have won the vote, but at what political cost to the party’s future, and at what personal price for Nick Clegg?
As the day of the Parliamentary vote on tuition fees draws near, we recap the major points of the debate on fees, from the government’s plans to raise university fees to £9000 and scrap state education funding, to the staunch opposition organised by the National Union of Students and their president Aaron Porter. What will be the outcome of the vote on tuition fees?
With the publication of this week’s Million+ report claiming that 65% of students will be worse off under the government’s proposals for raised tuition fees, Nick Clegg has lost his last vestiges of support. The student population, the general public, and even his own party have been left angry and disillusioned, but it is his own supercilious and condescending attitude towards the protesters that has truly left Nick Clegg standing very much alone.
Throughout the coverage of the planned rise in tuition fees and the public reaction to it, the Liberal Democrats have been universally condemned and vilified for their part in forming the government’s education policy. However nobody has stopped to actually consider the facts of the Liberal Democrats’ current political situation, or to acknowledge the steps they have taken to make the government proposals much fairer and more lenient for poorer students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Students protesting against the rise in tuition fees have clashed with riot police in a conflict that ended in the demolition of the glass front of the Conservative party headquarters in London. We ask what direction the protests will take next and examine the contradictory reactions to the violence. Though many have condemned the use of violent protest, others have praised the actions of those students prepared to go to any lengths to defend their right to education.
The government has now unveiled its plans to raise tuition fees to a potential £9000, devastating students across the country, including many prospective applicants who may no longer be able to apply to university at all. We examine their decision and the impact it will have, on universities, students and the coalition government itself.
The past week has seen English and French teenagers faced with the huge implications of new government policies, yet their reaction has been markedly different. Whilst French students have leapt to their own defence, organising political rallies and government protests, English students have once again showed their complete political apathy, failing to form an active community or mount any real demonstrations at all, in spite of the enormous threat of hugely raised tuition fees.
The long-awaited Browne Review of Higher Education and Student Funding has finally been published. We examine its implications, both short-term in terms of crippling financial strain for students and long-term for the country at large. The government may be desperately trying to solve an enormous debt problem, but fears are rising that adopting Browne’s recommendations would create much deeper issues for our society and economy in the long-run.
