Stuart Bonar makes pledge to voters on student fees

2.26.44pm GMT Fri 26th Feb 2010

Lib Dems would abolish university tuition fees for undergraduates

Stuart Bonar, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Moor View, is signing a pledge to voters ahead of the forthcoming general election that he will vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has launched the Vote for Students campaign to encourage candidates to pledge to protect student interests by opposing attempts to lift the cap on student top-up fees.

The Vote for Students funding pledge states:

"I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament, and will put pressure on the Government to introduce a fairer alternative."

Stuart Bonar said, "The Liberal Democrats will abolish university tuition fees for undergraduates. It is wrong that young people graduate from university thousands and thousands of pounds in debt, right at the start of their working lives. They then face house prices that have spiralled out of their reach, even now. Both Labour and the Tories offer no such promise to students."

NUS President Wes Streeting said, "The vast majority of the general public is against higher fees, and although this review has been set up to report after the general election, voters deserve to know where their MP stands on this highly emotive issue.

"I am delighted that Stuart is standing up for students and their families in Plymouth Moor View by signing up to this pledge. He has demonstrated his determination to give every young person in Plymouth Moor View a fair chance to go to university."

A recent YouGov poll commissioned by NUS revealed that 88% of the public does not think the review should even consider increasing fees, while a majority believes that it should look at alternatives. Last year, research by Opinionpanel showed that a political party's position on tuition fees would affect how 79% of students would vote in a general election.