Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/306/12662
From The Socialist newspaper, 28 June 2003
Scrap All Tuition Fees
ANOTHER FORM of tax - tuition fees - was debated in Parliament this week. Over 100 New Labour MPs either abstained or voted for a motion to abandon proposals for top-up fees.
Even they have to sometimes reflect the anger that exists outside Parliament. After all, they want to hold on to their seats. New Labour's 2001 manifesto said: "We will not introduce top-up fees and have legislated to prevent them".
If New Labour get their way, universities will be able to increase tuition fees to £3,000 from 2006. And where will it end? In an interview with the Financial Times, the outgoing vice-chancellor of Cambridge University said that fees should be raised to £6,000 to cope with the financial problems that UK universities have at the moment.
Antonio Valiente, a student at the University of Glamorgan, told the socialist: "Why should we, the students have to pay for it? A lot of students have problems paying their fees. The student loans aren't working and a lot of young people decide not to go to university to avoid the debts students accumulate.
"The vice-chancellor referred to universities as a business and said that charging £6,000 a year was the only way to make the business work. In my opinion, quality higher education should not be a business for rich people but a public service that everyone, no matter what their financial situation, should be able to enjoy."
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In The Socialist 28 June 2003:
Health Workers Strike At Sick Wages
Marching Against Global Capitalism
Support Colombian Trade Unionists - Boycott Coca-Cola
RMT conference: Not A Penny More To Labour
Transport union meets as Morris bows out
Unison conference - Labour link debate
Middle East: Sharon's Deadly Assassination Squads
Exclusive - Gary Mills and Tony Poole Jailed for 14 years by a corrupt system
George Orwell: Facing Up To The Contradictions
Marseille marches to a militant beat
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