SNP STUDENTS CONDEMN LIBDEM BETRAYAL OF STUDENTS ON FEES

For Immediate Release: Tuesday 12 October 2010

 
Attn:   NEWSDESKS
          POLITICAL CORRESPONDENTS
 
Today at the SNP’s National Conference SNP Students lined up to condemn the Liberal Democrats for approving Lord Browne's review into Higher Education funding which would allow an unlimited rise in tuition fees at English universities.

Their condemnation came because in the recent May elections the LibDems signed pledges in to oppose increases in tuition fees. The LibDems were particularly active in signing this pledge which read: “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative.”

Commenting after the debate on a topical motion about the Browne Review, Gail Lythgoe, Convener of the SNP Students, said:
 
“The LibDems have left themselves utterly exposed on this issue. In the last election they made much of their opposition to fees across numerous constituencies with large student populations. They have now let them down.
 
“Scotland has a proud tradition of free education based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay; and the SNP began restoring this principle in Scotland by scrapping the graduate endowment.
    
“Working together with students the SNP Government has also invested record amounts in the university sector and support for students.
 
"SNP Students are also proud that MPs have always championed higher education at Westminster.  When Scottish Labour MPs inflicted tuition fees on English students the SNP opposed that move. 

“So did the LibDems but the publication of the Browne review and their pact with the Tories in government places a question mark over this opposition.
 
“The SNP knows that the implications of lifting the cap on tuition fees in England could well be fewer resources for Scotland and a bigger challenge for Scottish students. That threat because of the LibDems’ betrayal will be a key part of our campaign as we approach the next elections.

“The Tories introduced loans, Labour brought in fees and the LibDems have betrayed their principles on higher education finding. Only the SNP is left as the party for students in Scotland and offers them the opportunity be part of something better.”
 
ENDS

Notes

The motion as passed is as follow:

Tuition Fees

Conference rejects the recommendations of the Browne Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance of unlimited tuition fees and higher student loan interest for stundents in England. Conference condemns MPs from the Liberal Democrats and Labour who signed up to the NUS pledge against tuition fees at the Westminster election and are now preparing to break that pledge, and welcomes commitment from SNP MPs to oppose the tuition fee increase in England and the impact it will have on funding in Scotland.

Conference calls on the Scottish Government to offer a routemap for Scotland’s higher education institutions that is true to and will safeguard the historic principles of Scottish education despite the strictures being forced upon us by Westminster.

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