A few words on tuition fees...

My views on the issue of tuition fees are well established. I wrote earlier this year on this blog that I believed the only way for tuition fees to go was up and following the publication of the Browne Review I wrote this article supporting it's proposals. But I would like to say a few words about the mass of student opposition that has arisen to the proposals in recent weeks.

First of all I think it is reasonable to say that there is a great deal of ignorance amongst those protesting against the fee rise. There is an awful lot of misunderstanding and misinformation regarding the changes. I question how many protesters have actually bothered to read the proposals and could give you a good, factual account of what they contain. Too many people are labouring under the impression that they are going to have to pay fees upfront, that everyone will pay £9,000 and that the poor will be worse off under these proposals - none of which is true.

The LibDems have taken an awful lot of flack over this decision and have borne the brunt of the protester's anger. I have to admit that I have warmed to the LibDems in recent months; they've done the right thing in swinging their full weight behind the coalition. It is entirely fair for the students who the LibDems wooed in to voting for them to now feel aggrieved but for the Labour President of the NUS, Aaron Porter, to take to the airwaves and criticise the LibDems for breaking their promise is an act of rank hypocrisy. I would suggest that amongst Mr Porter (I am assuming he voted for his own party) and the rest of his friends there are a hell of a lot of people protesting who did not vote for the LibDems at the General Election and voted for Labour or the Tories. The fact is that Labour introduced top-up fees in 2004, Labour commissioned the Browne Review and if Labour had won the election they would almost certainly now be introducing its proposals. So all the protesters who voted Conservative or Labour are getting what they voted for and they should stop this vilification of Nick Clegg.

The student protesters are not campaigning on behalf of the poor, they aren't campaigning in favour of the elderly or the infirm they are protesting to protect their own self-interest. They believe a cleaning lady should pay for their degree - I do not. I believe that the average 23.5% increase in earnings a graduate receives compared to a non-graduate is a privilege they should pay for not the tax payer.