WILL BLAIR sink with his ‘flagship’ Bill on top-up tuition
fees? He’s definitely pursuing a high-risk strategy. In the face of mass
opposition from ordinary people and now from Labour MPs he’s linked introducing
top-up fees with his own authority and could well lose.
Despite Blair making some concessions (see page 3), as we
go to press at least 100 Labour MPs are still saying that they will vote
against the Bill. MPs in marginal constituencies understand that the
groundswell of anger against top-up fees could cost them their seats at the
next election. Even some formerly loyal MPs appear to be standing firm against
a Bill that they see as the ‘thin end of the wedge’.
Blair has sent in his ‘heavy’, Education Secretary Charles
Clarke, to ‘persuade’ MPs to toe the line. But appeals to ‘trust’ in Blair are
not having the same effect as in previous rebellions. There is a layer of
Labour MPs who have had enough and are prepared to vote against – even if it
means bringing Blair down. Many consider that he has become a liability and
that it’s time for him to go.
Market forces
WHY IS Blair risking the humiliation of defeat over £1
billion? This is the amount of extra money that will be available to
universities if 75% charge the maximum fee of £3,000. This is a drop in the
ocean compared to the £11 billion funding gap that universities currently
have.
Of course Blair has put his personal authority ‘on the
line’ and doesn’t want to be seen to back down now. But, more importantly,
top-up fees are an integral part of his plans to do the bidding of his
big-business backers and ‘reform’ the public sector. This means introducing the
market so that companies can make money out of our public services.
Big business want graduates but they don’t want to pay for
them through taxes on their profits. Instead they want students to pay twice
for their education – through general taxation and through a graduate tax that
could mean massive debts of over £20,000 a year (see page 3).
The Russell group of Žlite universities have made no
secret of the fact that they want to see fees that reflect a ‘true market
rate’. That could mean fees of between £10,000 and £20,000 a year after the
cap on fees is removed. Once the principle of variable fees is introduced the
sky’s the limit as far as they and big business are concerned.
Hutton Inquiry
THERE IS still time for MPs to cave in to Blair but he
can’t be sure of victory. Defeat would mean that he was damaged goods. He could
still stagger on till the next election but a ‘managed’ resignation before that
is also possible if the Bill is defeated.
The Hutton report on the death of Dr David Kelly is due to
be published within days of the vote on top-up fees. The report is likely to
fudge the question of blame. But in an opinion poll for the Mail on Sunday 75%
thought that Blair was lying when he said that he didn’t authorise leaking
Kelly’s name to the press. Although the inquiry didn’t cover the crucial
question of why Blair went to war with Iraq, the publication of the report will
nevertheless remind people of his lies over weapons of mass destruction, which
Blair has now admitted may never be found.
Top-up fees and the Hutton inquiry could mark the beginning
of the end for Blair. But a new Labour government with Brown at the helm would
still be in thrall to the dictates of big business.
Mass protests against top-up fees, including on the day
that the Bill gets its second reading in Parliament, can put pressure of Labour
MPs to vote against. This is what the Socialist Party and International
Socialist Resistance are building for. The campaign should then be continued
for fees to be scrapped and for a living grant for all students.
At the same time it’s clear that capitalism, which is
motivated by profits and the market, cannot guarantee a decent education for
all. We need to change the system. That means campaigning for a new mass party
that can provide a political alternative to New Labour’s attacks on our hard
won rights, and for socialism.
