The shameful introduction of tuition fees by the last government and the hiking of them by this one has damaged the prospects of a generation, Bradford West MP George Galloway said today. He was reacting to news that the number of students registering for the University of Bradford for the coming years is down by 10 per cent.
'The last Labour government introduced tuition fees and this tawdry coalition has tripled them, although of course the deputy prime minister promised he wouldn't,' Galloway said. 'I opposed the introduction of them, I campaigned against them and I have repeatedly spoken out against them. Which neither of the other Bradford MPs - Labour and Lib-Dem - can claim. Their parties are responsible. Let's hear them justify it.'
Bradford university will have 200 fewer students this month than in 2011 and the decline in enrolment has been blamed both by the university administration and lecturers' leaders on the increase in tuition fees. Around 54,000 fewer students will enrol in degree course across England, a drop of 14 per cent, whereas in Scotland, where there are no fees, the numbers are up by two per cent.
'The present cabinet of millionaires, and the previous Labour one, all benefited from free university education,' Galloway added, 'and then they cynically pulled up the ladder behind them. This is the result. A declining number of graduates and the ones who do persevere are saddled with debt of mortgage-like proportions just as they embark on a career. Once more it is poorer families who are bearing the brunt and paying the price for the follies of the rich.'
