GUILDFORD MP URGES GOVERNMENT TO SCRAP TOP-UP FEES PLANS

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 13th Jan 2004

With less than 3 weeks to go before the crucial Second Reading of the Higher Education Bill, Sue Doughty MP has written to the Secretary of State for Education urging the Government to reconsider their plans to introduce top-up fees.

Sue said:

"Top-up fees will hit students hard, they will hit parents hard and they will hit our public services hard. In Guildford we are already struggling to recruit graduates in relatively low paid public services, such as teaching, due to the high cost of living. When graduates have debts as high as £30,000 at the end of their studies they will be even less likely to enter such professions and settle in areas like Guildford, where they haven't a hope of affording a home.

"The Government's plans will make graduates pay the equivalent of a higher rate of tax than millionaires pay. The Liberal Democrat's have proposed a much fairer way to give our Universities the funding they need. We would rule out top-up fees, scrap tuition fees and bring back grants for the poorest students by asking the richest 1% of the population to pay a higher income tax rate on earnings over £100,000."

"Top-up fees are not just bad news for future students; they are bad news for all of us."