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21/04/2005
Liberal Democrats to tackle student debt
The Liberal Democrats have promised to remove the fear of debt from university students by scrapping tuition and top-up fees and increase grants for poorer students.
The party announced that a Liberal Democrat government would provide grants of up to £2,000 per year to poorer students.
The Liberal Democrats also pledged to tackle student debt, promising that it would be £7,000 less than under Labour plans for those on low incomes.
The average student debt is now £13,051 and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has stated that average student debt would rise to £20,000 with the imposition of top-up fees. The party also claimed that bankruptcy rates among students are “spiralling”.
The Liberal Democrats education spokesperson Phil Willis claimed that student debt had increased by 240% under the Labour government and said that a recent report ranked the UK as the third most expensive place in the world in which to get a university education. He said: “I want our young people to maximise their potential by being free to choose the most appropriate university course without fear of debt. A place at university should be based upon the ability to learn not the ability to pay.”
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said that Prime Minister Tony Blair had “broken his promise” of 2001 when he imposed top-up fees on students last year. He said: “We should not be saddling our young people with such huge debts as they start out in life. How can our young people get a foot on the housing ladder while they work to pay off their £20,000 debt? How can they plan for their pension and start saving? How can they afford to start a family and the extra costs that brings when they are paying off their student debt?”
Mr Kennedy said that women in particular suffered more from increasing student debt than men, because they earned less, on average.
He concluded: “The Liberal Democrats don’t just oppose top-up and student tuition fees because we disagree with the policy. I personally oppose them because I think there is no more nauseating sight than politicians pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind them.”
(KMcA/GB)
The party announced that a Liberal Democrat government would provide grants of up to £2,000 per year to poorer students.
The Liberal Democrats also pledged to tackle student debt, promising that it would be £7,000 less than under Labour plans for those on low incomes.
The average student debt is now £13,051 and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has stated that average student debt would rise to £20,000 with the imposition of top-up fees. The party also claimed that bankruptcy rates among students are “spiralling”.
The Liberal Democrats education spokesperson Phil Willis claimed that student debt had increased by 240% under the Labour government and said that a recent report ranked the UK as the third most expensive place in the world in which to get a university education. He said: “I want our young people to maximise their potential by being free to choose the most appropriate university course without fear of debt. A place at university should be based upon the ability to learn not the ability to pay.”
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said that Prime Minister Tony Blair had “broken his promise” of 2001 when he imposed top-up fees on students last year. He said: “We should not be saddling our young people with such huge debts as they start out in life. How can our young people get a foot on the housing ladder while they work to pay off their £20,000 debt? How can they plan for their pension and start saving? How can they afford to start a family and the extra costs that brings when they are paying off their student debt?”
Mr Kennedy said that women in particular suffered more from increasing student debt than men, because they earned less, on average.
He concluded: “The Liberal Democrats don’t just oppose top-up and student tuition fees because we disagree with the policy. I personally oppose them because I think there is no more nauseating sight than politicians pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind them.”
(KMcA/GB)
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