At a meeting organised by NUS, MPs will be asked to confirm that they:
- will vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament, and
- will put pressure on the Government to introduce a fairer alternative to variable top-up fees
This morning, over 150 student leaders wrote to the Guardian warning their local MPs that students would be encouraged not to vote for them if they did not speak out against higher fees.
The two main political parties have refused to declare their position on top up fees, and have instead set up a review of higher education funding to report after the general election.
NUS President Wes Streeting said:
“The vast majority of the general public is against higher fees, and voters deserve to know where their MP stands on this key issue. Today students are making it clear to politicians that if they refuse to speak out against raising the cap on fees, we will hit them where it hurts – at the ballot box.
“NUS believes that a university education should be free at the point of use, with graduates giving back to the system according to how much they earn. This would give universities double the amount of funding they currently receive, while allowing the children of poorer families to go to university without the fear of debt. It would also prevent the emergence of a market in higher education, where only the rich could afford to attend our most prestigious universities.”
On Sunday, a YouGov poll commissioned by pressure group Compass revealed that only 12% of the public think the review should even consider increasing fees, while a majority believes that it should look at alternatives to fees.
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