Hiking student tuition fees is the fairest and most sustainable way to fund university education in Britain, Conservative prime minister David Cameron said today, a day before a key parliamentary vote on the issue.
The coalition government's plan to increase the fee cap almost threefold to £9,000 (€10,750) per year has angered supporters of the Liberal Democrat junior coalition partners who pledged to abolish tuition fees in the run up to May's election.
Students have protested across the country against the move, which critics say will price out the poor and starve the higher education system of talent just when Britain needs to develop a more skilled and productive workforce to compete globally.
Tomorrow's vote, although unlikely to result in a government defeat, is shaping up to be the first litmus test of the coalition's durability and of its appetite for executing the cuts it says are needed to bring down a record budget deficit.
"This is the most sustainable funding option available, allowing universities to get funding they need and offering much needed savings for the taxpayer," Mr Cameron said in a speech.
Some coalition lawmakers have said they will abstain from or vote against the motion tomorrow afternoon, although under-fire Lib Dem party leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has won the backing of his ministerial colleagues.
The vast majority of Mr Cameron's Conservatives, a much larger force in parliament, are expected to back the measure.
The government offered some concessions today to help appease critics. It plans to review the £21,000 threshold at which repayments start on an annual basis, instead of every five years and make loans available to more part-time students.
Reuters