Andrew wrote the other day about the farcical incident where Radio 4's World at One programme broadcast an interview with a Yorkshireman purporting to be Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Mike Crockart.
Mike Crockart has now hit the headlines himself by resigning as PPS to Michael Moore MP, Secretary of State for Scotland so he can vote against the tuition fees rise tonight.
That means that at least three of the eleven Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs will be voting against the proposals, Mike, Ming Campbell and Charles Kennedy and at least four for, Alistair Carmichael, Danny Alexander, Jo Swinson and Mike Moore.
I have to be honest and say that if I were an MP, I would also vote against even though I wouldn't have signed the NUS pledge. I wouldn't want to have much to do with an organisation which betrays its members by wanting to cut the maintenance grants for the poorest students. NUS is a breeding ground for the Labour front bench - it's where Jack Straw and Phil Woolas come from, among others, and I will eat my hat if Aaron Porter is not on the Labour benches within a decade. There is much within the proposals that is good and progressive as I've written about at length. The reason I'd vote against is simply that I believe that higher education benefits all of society and therefore I just couldn't bring myself to vote for a system that lets that principle go.
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Hi Caron - I sort of agree with you, but you're wrong to say 'I just couldn't bring myself to vote for a system that lets that principle go'.
That happened years ago - we have had for nearly a generation a system that doesn't regard post 16 education as a social good and has expected an individual contribution as a result. And when 50% of young people are going to HE - trying to fund it in the same way as when 10% did would require punantive tax rates.
Anyway the big thing for Lib Dems to do is to come together and stop beating ourselves up on fees. More here:
http://livingonwords.blogspot.com/2010/12/tuition-fee-fall-out.html
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