Tuition fees vote ‘due in weeks’

Nick Clegg has urged those who have taken to the streets to look hard at what is being proposed

A Commons vote on controversial plans to raise student tuition fees will be held before the end of the year.

Commons leader Sir George Young said a vote on plans to double fees in England and allow universities to charge more than £9,000 in some circumstances would take place before the end of the year.

The proposals have led to mass protests in London and other university cities.

No 10 has suggested Lib Dem ministers with concerns about the move would not be expected to vote for the proposals.

Lib Dem MPs are under fierce pressure after signing a pre-election pledge not to raise fees from their current £3,290 level and calling for them to be scrapped in the long term.

The coalition agreement gives Lib Dem MPs scope to abstain in votes on the issue but many prominent MPs – including Sir Menzies Campbell – have indicated they will vote against it.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said he regrets his U-turn on fees but argues he is not able to implement several Lib Dem policies because the party is in coalition with the Conservatives.

He says the proposals are fairer than the current system as the level at which graduates will start to repay money will rise to £21,000, there will be additional support for the poorest students and upfront fees for part-time students will be axed.

Asked whether Lib Dem ministers would be expected not to vote against the policy, a No 10 spokesman said “we would expect them to abide by the coalition agreement”.

“Usually the principle of collective responsibility applies but we have a coalition government and there are provisions on specific issues,” he added.

The BBC’s Political Correspondent Iain Watson said there was no suggestion from Downing Street that Lib Dem ministers would be expected to actually vote for the proposals.

The Lib Dem parliamentary party was discussing a possible deal in which its government ministers would agree to abstain on the fee vote – in return for backbenchers being persuaded to abstain rather than vote against, he added.

Sir George Young did not give details of when the vote would actually take place but indicated it would happen before Parliament’s Christmas recess begins on 21 December.

Most Conservatives are in favour of lifting the current cap on fees – recommended by the Browne review last month – while Labour leader Ed Miliband supports a rival graduate tax proposal, the precise details of which have yet to be decided.

Shadow Commons leader Hilary Benn, for Labour, said an early vote on the fees increase demonstrated that the government was “desperate to try and get this out of the way”.

He said this would enable voters to “see every single Liberal Democrat who goes through the ‘aye’ lobby and breaks the pledge that they made”.

Student leaders have said protests against the proposals, which turned violent in London, and cuts in university funding will continue and have urged ministers to “sit up and take notice” of public anger.

But vice-chancellors have warned about what they say will be the devastating impact on universities if politicians fail to agree on increasing fees.

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