Hague indicates Tories might raise tuition fees if re-elected

'The Independent'

The Conservatives could raise tuition fees again past £9,000 a year if they return to government after the election, William Hague has indicated.

The former Tory leader, who is stepping down as an MP at this election, said the party “haven’t ruled out” a further increase.

But he criticised Labour for spreading “scare stories” over the policy and said the party would act to help universities grow.

“We haven't specified the future level of university fees but I think the scare stories put about by the Labour party are extremely misleading, they are just designed to frighten the voters before the election. We will continue to act in the interests of universities prospering and of record numbers of students going to university,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme.

"We haven't ruled [an increase] out but scare stories about what may happen to such fees are really, as I say, just designed to scare people ahead of the elections.”

Separately on the Andrew Marr Show the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also refused to be drawn on whether he would support a fee increase, changing the subject when questioned on the matter.

Tuition fees were introduced by the Blair government at around £1,000 a year. They were trebled by the same government to £3,000 a year. In 2010 the Coalition government voted to trebled tuition fees again to £9,000.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/the-tories-could-raise-student-tuition-fees-again-past-9000-a-year-william-hague-indicates-10223328.html

Remind me again why the Tories are good for young people?

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Reply 1

TimmonaPortella

Just gonna get this in at the top of the thread in case it carries on.

IFS on labour's intended £3000 reduction http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7612

Mid- to high-income graduates are the primary beneficiaries of this reform, with the very highest earners benefiting the most, despite the rise in interest rates that they would face. This is because high-earning graduates are the most likely to repay their loan in full under the current system; hence, they experience the largest reduction in repayments as a result of the lower fee cap (which the higher interest rate does not offset). Most lower-earning graduates will be unaffected

So, less paid by rich graduates, more paid by general taxation from everyone. Way to stick up for 'working people', Ed!

IFS on the Conservative 'fee increase' to £9000 http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6346

Low-earning graduates benefit from the increase in the earnings threshold, which (combined with the debt write-off after 30 years) ensures that the majority of their loan is never repaid. This makes the new system substantially more progressive than its predecessor: the richest graduates are likely to repay ten times as much as the poorest, and would even pay back more than the value of what they borrowed.

They also note that the poorest 27% of graduates are better off after the Conservative fee changes than before them: the 27% lowest earners pay less towards their degree in absolute terms than they did before the Conservatives took office.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

The Dictator

The Tories are good for young people because they encourage them to be responsible and not expect to live off the rest of society's money.

Reply 3

username1862217

Wait, so Labour made it £1000 initially, then £3000, and now they want to make it £6000?????

Jesus Christ, why do they keep changing their mind?

Reply 4

Everglow

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Just gonna get this in at the top of the thread in case it carries on.

IFS on labour's intended £3000 reduction (source: http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7612 )

So, less paid by rich graduates, more paid by general taxation from everyone. Way to stick up for 'working people', Ed!

IFS on the Conservative 'fee increase' to £9000 (http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6346 ) :

They also note that the poorest 27% of graduates are better off after the Conservative fee changes than before them: the 27% lowest earners pay less towards their degree in absolute terms than they did before the Conservatives took office.

I think I've debated this with you before, but another time won't hurt I guess. :rolleyes:

That £3000 reduction affecting the highest earners is exactly how it should be; otherwise, we're just encouraging graduates to squander their university educations so that they pay as little as possible. 'Rich graduates' and 'working people' are not mutually exclusive terms.

Advocating this system the way you are doesn't encourage hard work or ambition whatsoever. If anything it just puts people off, so that they have to pay a minimal amount of their tuition fees back.

Reply 5

TimmonaPortella

Original post by Reluire

Just as long as we're absolutely clear that the labour party wants to change the system to help the better off directly at the expense of the worse off.

Reply 6

viddy9

I wouldn't be surprised if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were planning to raise tuition fees again.

This has even convinced some of my rightwing friends to endorse Labour at this election. Raising them even further would be terrible - students are already riddled with debt.

Yet another reason to vote Labour, who will reduce tuition fees to £6000 a year.

Reply 7

username878267

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Just as long as we're absolutely clear that the labour party wants to change the system to help the better off directly at the expense of the worse off.

Oh yes, because lowering prices harms the poor.
Like supermarkets such as Aldi offering cheap prices is incredibly harmful to the poor.
Everyone knows that to help the poor you need to triple prices.
I mean it's common sense.

Reply 8

Everglow

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Just as long as we're absolutely clear that the labour party wants to change the system to help the better off directly at the expense of the worse off.

I think you're being very cynical. I'm interested how the policy directly falls at the expense of the worst off though.

Reply 9

TimmonaPortella

Original post by Bornblue

Oh yes, because lowering prices harms the poor.

Lowering prices for the rich and getting that money instead through tax which the poor pays indeed harms the poor.

This is not complicated.

Reply 10

MatthewParis

Original post by TimmonaPortella

So, less paid by rich graduates

Less paid by all graduates. That is axiomatic.

Are you really going to argue that for an ordinary lower-middle class graduate, they will be better off if fees are increased by 20% (following the Tories' increasing tuition fees by 300%)?

Reply 11

MatthewParis

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Lowering prices for the rich

Nope. Labour is lowering tuition fees for all graduates.

Reply 12

MatthewParis

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Just as long as we're absolutely clear that the labour party wants to change the system to help the better off directly at the expense of the worse off.

Nope. Labour is lowering tuition fees for all graduates. The way that it will be paid for is by reducing the lifetime pension cap to a million pounds.

That will not adversely affect "the poor"

Reply 13

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Reluire

Long term economic plan. :confused:

Reply 14

Everglow

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

Long term economic plan. :confused:

I agree the Tories have a good hold of the economy, but it seems to be at the expense of young people. The fact is, young people are the future of this country, and the fact university has become a business to extort as much money as possible from students is sickening. If countries like Germany with great economies can charge as little as around €200 p/year for tuition fees, how can we justify fees in excess of £9,000?

Reply 15

LivngForSummer

Original post by The Dictator

The Tories are good for young people because they encourage them to be responsible and not expect to live off the rest of society's money.

The Tories are running a ponzi scheme they regularly take public money, give it to large private corporations and expect you to foot the bill. So they may not encourage you to live off societies money but you can bet them and their rich friends do.

Reply 16

The Dictator

Original post by LivngForSummer

We've had a Ponzi scheme running for years now. The Tories should take responsibility for that but better them in power than Labour.

Also, if we abolished the Bank of England perhaps we wouldn't have this problem. Central banks cause things like this to happen.

You can blame the introduction of the Fed in America in 1913.

Reply 17

username878267

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Lowering prices for the rich and getting that money instead through tax which the poor pays indeed harms the poor.

This is not complicated.

Umm the rich pay more tax. It helps the poor who aren't put off from university. It helps people after they get out of university not have huge debts over their head which they will be paying off until they're old.
Besides the tax should come from tax havens, not the poor.
Of course it helps the poor. Lowering prices helps the poor. But you're disgusting tory spin is ridiculous. That somehow trebling prices helps poor people? I don't care what bullsh*t, manipulated statistics you pluck out of thin air, tripling prices does not help the poor.

Are you saying if they made univesity free for everyone it wouldn't help those who were at the bottom? Madness. Utter madness.
Absolutely bonkers.

Reply 18

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Reluire

It was a joke :tongue:

They just say that as a response to everything. They could round up poor people to be shot and just go "long term economic plan" and they would get a free pass :rolleyes:

The tory long term economic plan is to make it so bad business can hire people for a pound an hour (just got to get rid of that pesky min wage) and everything will be all rainbows and unicorns. Just ignore all those people that died in the process :ninja:

Reply 19

TimmonaPortella

Original post by Bornblue

It helps the poor who aren't put off from university.

Presumably you have stats showing that this has actually happened.

Protip: you don't. The proportion of students from low-income backgrounds at university in England is higher, and is growing faster under the present fee system, than in Scotland, where they have no tuition fees at all.