Labour's "Poll Tax on Learning" Must be Stopped, Says Lib Dems

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 2nd Dec 2003

Mid Dorset MP, Annette Brooke, has stepped up her demands that the Government scrap plans which could mean that many of the brightest local students would no longer be able to afford a university education.

Ahead of meeting local students in Parliament tomorrow, Annette said:

"Labour under Tony Blair are making access to higher education dependent on the ability to pay, not on the ability to learn. This is the Government's 'poll tax on learning'.

"Students will be burdened with mortgage style debts of up to £33 000, which many will still be paying back when they retire. This makes a mockery of the Government's claim to be widening opportunities. Only the Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed tuition and top-up fees; and only the Liberal Democrats have fully costed plans to boost higher education funding and restore grants for the poorest students.

"Mid Dorset is already short of essential public service workers in areas like health and education due to the high cost of living in the area. With skilled graduates burdened by student debts of tens of thousands of pounds, we will be hit by a recruitment crisis far worse than our current problems."

Annette Brooke warned people not to be taken in by the Tories' apparent u-turn on top-up fees:

"The Tories say they would abolish top-up fees, but only by abolishing University places. Under Tory plans by 2010 around 800 students from the Mid Dorset constituency, who would qualify for a course today, will be told that they cannot study and should go out and look for a job without the qualifications they want."