Labour edges towards tuition fee cut

As Peter Mandelson warns that any such pledge must be fully funded, writes Alison Goddard.

The Labour party is poised to promise to cut annual tuition fees in England to £6,000, probably next week, according to various rumours in circulation. Peter Mandelson, who was a business secretary in Tony Blair’s administration, is due to address Universities UK today. He seems to have suggested to Patrick Wintour, the political editor of the Guardian, that it would be wiser for the Labour party to identify how to fund higher education after the general election rather than before it. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Vince Cable said that the current policy had boosted the number of people going to university while ensuring that universities were properly funded.

Meanwhile the Herald reports a call from a university principal for tuition fees to be introduced in Scotland. Craig Mahoney of the University of the West of Scotland has said that charging students for higher education would provide a welcome income stream for universities but that "opposing government policy isn’t always welcomed". The BBC says that Scottish university leaders are afraid to call for the introduction of tuition fees.