I supported the Government on Higher Education funding last night.
For someone like me – who has always believed that education should be free – it has been a difficult decision. Sadly, my view of education (free through raising taxation) isn’t on the table – or anywhere near it. That vision was ended when Labour introduced tuition fees and the principle of free education for all fell. So last night I chose to vote for the proposals because they are fairer than either the NUS or Labour proposals. I also could not justify students being the only group in society protected from the cuts.
Not only will paying back be at a cheaper rate than the current system – but no one will have to pay back until their salary reaches a higher threshold than before (£21,000 up-rated annually). Students from poorer backgrounds will have £150 million in bursaries and the maintenance grant which is over £3000 and has increased slightly doesn’t have to be paid back at all. Moreover, for the first time, part-time students (often poor, often missed first chance and often women) will also not have to pay anything up front – removing a real barrier to further education.
However, the key question for me was will that level of potential debt put poorer students off? When Labour introduced tuition fees – I believed poorer students would be put off. That didn’t happen. In fact more students went to university – and more of those students came from poorer families. With these increases I remain concerned – but have received assurances that if there is any sign of a falling off of applications from poorer students – action will be taken.
At this point in time, with the widest gap between rich and poor and social mobility non-existent – I believe the biggest inhibition to children from poorer backgrounds going to university – is that they don’t see themselves in that way and don’t have that aspiration. That is why for me the money we are putting into early years and into the pupil premium is so important. Closing that gap and increasing social mobility has to be the priority.
Lastly – on breaking the NUS pledge – I can only apologise. However, for me, that pledge was super-ceded by my signing up to the coalition agreement and although the coalition agreement allowed for abstention – for me that would have felt like opting out of making a very important decision.
I have listened to local students, local residents, party members, council group members and colleagues – and thank them all for their views. It is clear that everyone cares passionately about education and life chances – and that just because we may have differing views on how best to go forward – we all do care.
Lynne Featherstone 
Who are you trying to convince, us or yourself?
I’m not angry or surprised, just thoroughly disappointed. Your voters (I was one) expect you to live up to your principles no matter who tries to persuade you otherwise.
The Tories must be killing themselves laughing. Not only have they pushed their right-wing policy through but they have deflected all of the anger onto the Lib-Dems and walked off Scot-free.
Your party needs to grow a backbone for the sake of itself and it’s voters.
Tony @10:46 said everything I had in mind (having also read the IFS briefing).
I was wondering whether your next move would be to enact another pre-election promise: that it would be easier to make MPs accountable and to be sacked by their constituents.
you are fooling NO ONE! Except yourself, which worries me as i thought you had at least some brains…..
RIP LibDems…….
In reference to Elizabeth’s comments on the unfairness of free Tuition, why should some kids be fast-tracked to higher incomes than others?
When it was only a certain class of man that used to go to university fast tracked to higher incomes over others, both female and male was that fair? Lynne would never have gone to university or got her ministerial post had she not argued against the unfairness meted out to her gender. Had she not had those opportunites paid for by others. How else would she have been positioned to become turncoat and sit amongst a bunch of millionaire males of a certain class and lacking diversity in so many ways it’s laughable. ‘Millionaires’ who won’t be financially harmed by the decisions they make on the future lives of everyone else. Probably not feeling so ‘rich’ today though, “who wants to be a millionaire eh?”
Would she say that women who fought for university education for women because the education system was UNFAIR should have paid back those men that tried to keep them out in the first place? “Thanks for for loaning me the money lads and allowing me to buy my human rights of you” That acquiring ‘equality’ should based on an individuals ability to pay and not about social justice and human necessity for all.
Dear Lynne,
I respect you for apologising for breaking your pledge, and for taking the arguments of your government’s critics seriously; unlike your leader who dismisses anyone who disagrees with him as a “dreamer”.
However, let’s be clear, there is only one group in society being protected from the cuts, and that is the rich. Like the Labour government before them, the Con-Dem coalition has done nothing to address the skyrocketing inequality of British society. The bad debts of bankers on million-pound bonuses are ‘socialised’. Then these same debts are used as cover for the most ideological experiment in the world in higher education. This lab experiment is then steamrollered through without so much as a public consultation process. It doesn’t take a PhD to understand why angry youth take to the streets.
Lynne, we do care about education. And we will be watching what you have done to it. And you will be held accountable.
The irony of the quotation that you have posted on your page is just too rich not to point out – “She’s more interested in telling what she sees as the truth than in toeing the party line.” James Kirkup, Telegraph, 10 May 2010
Not any more.
I do feel a good politician who has really worked hard at a local level has caused those who believed in her to now mistrust her. I have no belief in the majority of the Lib Dem MPs now. The best thing those with any hope of a future career would be to cross the floor and go red. Lesser of two evils. They’ll only sink with the Tory ship if they don’t.
Nice to see ‘rent-a-mob’ Charles and Camilla coming out in support of the student protests last night, to be amongst their ‘subjects’. A show solidarity how nice. I suppose they had to, considering the tax payer is paying. Someone should have told them that driving so recklessy through a crowd is highly irresponsible.
Can’t wait to pay out for William and Kate’s wedding. Though when will they pay out for mine? Freeloaders!
Honestly, what a load of whingers they are on your blog. The country is in dire financial straights and everyone is being asked to contribute something. I wont be having a py increase for 2 years and I will start paying higher rate tax at a lower rate of income than I currently am. I have a job though, and I am grateful to be in work. It’s not ideal that students will be faced with a mountain of debt when they graduate, and I am sure that the decision to vote for this was a tough one to make. That is what being in power is all about – making tough and often unpoular decisions because you believe them to be in the best interests of the country. What does concen me though is how Welsh and Scottish students are not affected by this. Where is the money coming from that enables the devolved Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament to be so ‘generous’? That to me is where the unfairness is.
“She’s more interested in telling what she sees as the truth than in toeing the party line.” James Kirkup, Telegraph, 10 May 2010
Maybe its time to remove this quote from your blog, Lynne?
England should follow the Welsh and Scots lead. They have their priorities right. Sorry if this is an unpopular thing to say, but I don’t think it’s right to put up Lynne’s private mobile number on here, at all. We want to make our point, not harass her like a bunch of weirdo stalkers!
I believe you have just stolen the dreams and hopes of many children!
This makes interesting reading; I guess that the Lib Dems were in opposition against Labour back then…
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2003/07/haringey-students-suffering-over-tuition-fees.htm
“Lib Dem councillors are urging Haringey Council to speak up for the large student population in the borough and oppose tuition fees, which are hitting local students hard. The move follows the results of a survey carried out on sixteen year olds showing that two thirds of them could opt out of university because of the cost of top-up fees.”
…oh how the tune has changed!
So if it was bad then, what about now and the future? I look forward to reading the new Lib Dem survey.
If I were you I would fight hard to ensure that unemployment benefit is protected as you may well find yourself in need of its support while you look for a new job.
You could however try…
Bankers – They lie, along the same lines as you did. Maybe you can be employed in writing their terms and conditions as you seem to have the same morals about honouring you word as they do.
Tory – You are nearly there already, keep up the good work.
Police – Become a spokes person for the Met, they also seem to like lying to the public, while beating their children over the heads. Yes a police man was injured falling off a horse, no students were directly in its path when that happened (vid on youtube) but the student needing brain surgery, thats obviously his own fault.
Shame on you, the Lib dems, the Government and the Police.
This is just the start, keep it up and with your help the Torys will really be able to do a number on the country.
Lynne
All you did yesteryday was use the old Labour system to raise the tuition fee cap.
None of what you mention in your blog was passed into legislation. No white paper on this will be published until next year. You will have to vote again on this. It’s not over.
Also, please note that the police was, again, largely inflicted by the police. My friend had to have an emergency brain operation last night after being hit by a truncheon. He was protesting peacefully and was hit while queuing to leave the square.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/brain-op-for-student-hit-by-truncheon-2156207.html
sorry for the typo – I meant that ‘violence’ was largely inflicted by the police.
The problem, which ever way you try to dress it up, is that you’ve gone back on what you promised. We elected you based on what you said and we’ve been stabbed in the back.
The decent and right thing would be for you to resign.
I also don’t believe in putting up people’s private phone numbers and/or addresses in the same way that I do not believe Lynne has any right to disrespect people who do not provide their full name to her blog.
I believe she is hoping that, as all this is happening early in the coalition, people will forget about it come the next election.
The problem with that is that when you breach the trust of lots of people on the very issue they chose you for, it isn’t forgotten.
Finally, and most importantly, the statement Lynne makes about the introduction of tuition fees not putting people off going to university is simply breathtaking. If she knew and believes that then why on earth did she sign the pledge in the first place? Easy. She did it becasue she is/was a populist and to get the student vote. It does not get more cynical and dishonest than this.
unconvinced by your rhetoric. what happened to principles? another vote bites the dust.
Didn’t know we were supposed to give our full names. There, it’s done. I’m not embarrassed about anything I’ve written.
You did after after all make a signed pledge to oppose any
rise in student tuition fees so are now known along with your party
for your lack of integrity and as someone who is unlikely to deliver
on their word. To be honest I quite agree with electoral reform.
However I know feel that any referendum on this should seen as a vote
of confidence in the Lib Dems. I am persuading everyone I know that
rejecting electoral reform in any referendum is the effective way to
respond to the Libs Dems duplicity and a first and welcome opportunity
to give you and your party the kicking at the ballot box you deserve
while denying you the prize for which you have been prepared to sacrifice
any principles your party once had. It is also seems the obvious tactical vote to bring down the reviled coalition for which no one voted. Deny the Libs Dems their prized cherry and their party will only then begin to seriously question if this was worth it and if they shouldn’t either raise their bargaining game of get out. The Lib Dems have shown us that in politics tactics and survival mean more than principles so even if you believe in it Vote NO to referendum reform.
Shameful sophistry.
According to the Independent you were ‘distraught’ and had to be consoled by Nick Clegg. This is what happens when you, metaphorically, get into bed with a load of millionaire public schoolboys. None of this will be of any trouble to them or to their kind. The supreme irony is that you are the equalities minister.
You should have stuck to your pledge and resigned
Lynne,
As one of your constituents I am bitterly disappointed in your decision.
On your point about putting poorer students off. I understand that there will be packages available to poorer students – but these are not sufficient (or targeted at a bracket of people corresponding to the degree to which fees are being increased.) I was £2,000 above the threshold to recieve a bursary- and went to Oxford University having been the first person in my family to go to university at all and having been to an inner city comprehensive school.
With the prospect of £9,000 fees however, there is no way that either myself or my family would have been able to justify paying it. Looking at how this system will work in practice – where top universities will charge more and lower less in order to attract students and maintain levels of teaching- it would have been very likely that I would have picked a cheaper university to attend. This system is inherently flawed and will be a barrier to social mobility as people who are academically able to go to the best universities will be unable to do so because of fees. This link between financial situation and education is simply not justified.
£21,000 as an acceptable amount to start paying fees back? Really – when you are at the same time increasing the interest rate on student loans for those earning above that threshold?
You represent the residents of Haringey, many whom are from more disadvantaged backgrounds then many other parts of the country – many who will be even more disadvantaged by not feeling that higher education is an option they can afford. You should have remembered this responsibility to the constituents you represent when considering the proposals.
“Lastly – on breaking the NUS pledge – I can only apologise. However, for me, that pledge was super-ceded by my signing up to the coalition agreement”
I am not entirely sure you understand how democracy works… you are voted for on the basis of your promises; if signing up to a coalition requires you to break those promises on which the people granted you power, you should not sign up to it. You are elected to stand for your constituents, not given carte blanche to do whatever you wish. Do you really suppose that for the electorate your promises are superceded by the coalition agreement? Or are you too arrogant to care?
An apology is in fact not your only option, you could also stand up for your principles, or resign; these two are the only options that don’t make a mockery of democracy.
Madam, you may not understand the definition of the word “pledge”, but plenty of residents in Hornsey and Wood Green know all too well what a PLEDGE-BREAKER is:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/recallfeatherstonemp/
The game is up, now. Either resign now and have a by-election, or try to pretend for the next FOUR-AND-A-HALF YEARS that you actually represent the electors in your constituency.
That might end up feeling like a very, very long time for ALL concerned.
PLEASE RESIGN NOW BEFORE YOU CAN DO ANY MORE DAMAGE.
Lynne,
One suspects that a number of your constituents have suddenly realised that you might think about what is best for you, rather than what is best for your constituents. They are not happy about this.
Those of use who observed you on Haringey Council and the GLA came round to that conclusion quite a number of years ago.
Do the decent thing. You don’t need the money and you clearly can’t balance the responsibilities between parliament and your constituents. You can only recover any credibility by resigning your seat and seeking re-election or retiring from politicals altogether. I suggest the latter, you are SO out of your depth, it is embarrassing for us to watch.
Why have all the comments lodged before 11.56 disappeared?
Are you trying to disguise the fact that so many constituents are disgusted by your self-serving, pusillanimous posturing?
You stole my vote and my faith in democracy.
You have no integrity.
You have no honour.
You will do anything to stay in power.
I will never vote LibDem again.
Jane, Muswell Hill – I sympathise with the thought but no, there’s quite a few comments now, so ones prior to 11.56 are on a separate page accessed by clicking <<Older Comments at the foot of the last comment
I’ve now read back the earlier comments and spotted the link to the Haringey Independent. Protest over Lynne Featherstone planned for Saturday at Crouch End clock tower and then on to the old Town Hall. No time given. I will be there as will my secondary school children as will a number of former lib dem voting friends. Please will someone else keep repeating this throughout the blog as it gets lost in older submissions.
You do realise that the concept of “that pledge was super-ceded by my signing up to the coalition agreement”. is laughable don’t you? You can’t make a pledge to the electorate and ditch it the moment a sniff of power appears
You canvas our votes with a promise to scrap tuition fees but then because you “didn’t win the election”; you feel that you can drop the policy.
No one thought that the Lib Dems would win the election Lynn but they did believe that you would stand by your principles.
All you have done is prove that a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted vote.
No one can believe in anything you say any more. You have sold your principles and your integrity.
None of the repayment conditions have been confirmed even in a White Paper Lynne – you simply voted to triple fees blind to the impact on rich or poor. You just don’t know that this is what the proposals will be.
The NUS Pledge wasn’t a pledge to that organisation, it was a pledge to your constituents. If you want to put the coalition above your constituents then resign.
Shameful and disgusting behaviour.
Thanks Tony, I wasn’t being offered that link earlier, a technical glitch I’m sure
Apology not accepted.
And could you please display on your blog my comment (and those of other constituents) I posted here earlier this morning. Thanks.
After making a specific election pledge on this issue the very least you could have done was abstain. Voting for the proposal and claiming the pledge was invalidated by the fact you are in a coalition is disgraceful and inexcusible. The Liberal Democrats were never going to be anything other than part of a coalition at this election. The conduct of your party has been gloating and distasteful but I had hoped for better from you.
Just so we can be quite clear as to what we voted for
Add a sniff or power and we get:
So we have to conclude that unless you actually win the election that none of your promises are binding. In which case you should just keep quiet about all policy because you really are never going to win one now.
Lynne
About three years ago you attended an awards night at my former secondary school in Haringey. I remember you giving a speech where you mentioned the struggles and barriers that you faced to get into the position that you are in now. I remember feeling inspired and up until yesterday I admired you as a politician. It took a great deal of work, pledges and campaigning for you to have the privilege to sit in the Houses of Parliament amongst other betrayers such as Mr. Clegg. What is devastating is that you have now turned your back on those who got you there. You should sincerely be ashamed of yourself; you have lost many people’s faith in democracy, and have betrayed yourself more so than anyone else. For you to ever deny such claims would be scandalous.
That is why many share the opinion that you should resign, leave with the ounce of shame that you hold deep inside of you. As a student now in university I only wish that people like you could face the anger that many of my peers, including myself, now have towards your party; instead of us having to direct our anger towards many police officers who share our views. People like you truly define the term sell out.
R.I.P. Lib Dems.
You are as guilty of misrepresentation and fraud just like Nick Clegg.
You admit that your ideal was in the opposite direction of this cuts. You supported the opposite directions from your own point of view: In exchange of what?
If you think it is more fair to pay 27.000£ in tuition fees rather than 9000£ over three years of undergraduate studies, you owe your former university the 18.000£ difference. I expect you to make the payment as soon as possible.
As a Professor at UCL I can only say I am hugely disappointed in you and your party. This is not why I voted for you earlier this year. You’ve been a good local MP, but the LibDems will not have my vote again.
no matter which way you try to tell us your excuses the simple thing is you are a liar , you lied to get my vote i will never again vote lib conservative I hope in years to come you can look in the mirror and still believe in what you did . but i think whatever you tell yourself will still be a lie
Lynne, I know I’m in a minority here – perhaps the only person? – but I want to congratulate you on supporting the government in the vote last night. Having read the small print, I think the proposals ARE progressive. A lot of people are quite misinformed about what is actually being proposed. Perhaps your ever-increasing number of Labour visitors can defend their policy- namely introducing tuition fees….? Somehow I doubt it.
Youve gota laugh
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2003/12/lib-dems-call-for-local-mps-to-oppose-top-up-fees.htm
“Charging people to go to University is very short-sighted of this Labour Government. The fear of debt is deterring many bright young people from attending; top-up fees will merely compound this problem.
SO what changer then Lynn?
Congratulations to Haringey, Lib Dem Councillor Matt Davies who has resigned today from the party after last night’s tuition fees vote. At least one member of the Lib Dems who has salvaged some integrity. I urge Lynne Featherstone to please follow his lead.
And another one.
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2004/02/lib-dems-call-on-councillors-to-oppose-top-up-fees.htm
Liberal Democrat councillors will today call on Haringey Council to support their motion calling for the Government to scrap its plans to introduce top-up fees for universities. The Lib Dems say that the Government’s bill is short-sighted and will have a detrimental long-term affect on Haringey’s economy.
Funny how a sniff of power can make a principle fade away eh Lynn?
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2002/11/top-up-fees-mp-roche-challenged.htm
Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has laid down a challenge to Labour MP Barbara Roche over the controversial issue of student top-up fees.
Labour’s 2001 election manifesto promised not to introduce top-up fees. Now, however, many in the government are supporting plans to let universities charge higher fees – with the result that access to the top universities will be determined by wealth rather than ability.
Ms Featherstone says this suggested U-turn is a betrayal of Labour promises over the issue, and the local MP should be supporting hard-up local students on the issue, particularly with the area having many students and the Middlesex University campus in Bounds Green.
You really couldnt make this up!!!
Justin have you not noticed that the majority of people posting here voted Lib Dem, unlike you who voted Tory? Are you an early product of the cuts to education by demonstrating an unfortunate inability to read?
You’ve lost my vote.
Lynne wrote: “However, the key question for me was will that level of potential debt put poorer students off? When Labour introduced tuition fees – I believed poorer students would be put off. That didn’t happen.”
But Lynne, don’t you think that the scrapping of the Educational Maintenance Allowance will alter the situation, and make it almost impossible for kids from the poorest families to go on to university education? Please explain.
Whilst I vehemently disagree with your bizarre and bigoted assessment (complete with inaccurate policy quoting) that children born out of wedlock prior to 2006 are worthless, thus shouldn’t be allowed have UK citizenship through their British fathers…
I firmly agree it must’ve been difficult to vote against your heart on the matter of fees. Since you’re a minister, I don’t hold you to your vote. Although it was a Liberal Democrat promise, it is a coalition, and there are sacrifices to make in this scenario. Good to know action will be taken should applications for poorer students drop off.
I’m afraid that you and your Lib Dem ministerial colleague are presiding over the beginning of the end of the party. A great shame.