Starmer and others in party confirm rethink on England fee approach
Precarious university finances mean that Labour must “consider carefully” how to ensure its tuition fee policy achieves the right balance between student and taxpayer funding, one of the party’s MPs has said.
It comes amid reports that Labour is set to ditch its policy to provide free undergraduate tuition in England ahead of the next election, although details of what might replace that longstanding commitment are unclear.
Speaking to Research Professional News, Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner said the party’s policy position would be decided by “members and affiliates through the National Policy Forum process”.
“Given the precarious financial situation facing universities, it is right that Labour considers carefully how to get the right balance between student and taxpayer contribution—including employers—while ensuring everyday living costs for students are met,” said Zeichner, who is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Universities.
Labour has officially backed the abolition of fees since the pledge was included in former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s 2019 general election manifesto. Corbyn’s predecessor, Ed Miliband, wanted to cut the maximum annual undergraduate fee that universities can charge to £6,000.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on 2 May, current Labour leader Keir Starmer confirmed the party was considering U-turning on its pledge, saying it was “looking at a number of options” for university funding and describing the current system as “unfair”.
“We are likely to move on from [the commitment to abolish fees] because we do find ourselves in a different financial situation [to 2019],” Starmer said.
University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said it was “deeply disappointing” that Starmer had reneged on the free tuition promise.
“The country desperately needs a publicly funded higher education system,” she said.
Polling day
The comments came as the Higher Education Policy Institute unveiled the results of a poll of 1,008 UK-wide undergraduates, which took place between 4 and 19 April.
Asked what the opposition party’s tuition fee policy should be, 28 per cent of students preferred the abolition of fees, while 23 per cent said they wanted Labour to commit to reducing them to £6,000.
Some 20 per cent of English-domiciled students said Labour should back the current system of £9,250 fees, while 15 per cent said it should cut fees back to £3,000. Raising the fee cap with inflation had 3 per cent support, while the introduction of a graduate tax had 4 per cent backing.
Meanwhile, 85 per cent of those polled said they expected to vote at the next general election. Some 46 per cent said they would vote Labour if there were a general election ‘soon’, while 11 per cent would vote Green and 7 per cent Conservative.
“Students were previously much more likely to say they support Labour than the population as a whole, but they are now more or less in line with others. However, students are much less likely to vote Conservative than the general population, with a mere 1 in 14 students (or 7 per cent) planning to vote Tory,” the Hepi analysis said.
Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, said the poll suggested it was “wrong to think of students as apathetic or disengaged from party politics”.
“The results won’t make happy reading for the Conservative Party, who now have minimal support among undergraduates,” he added. “While they will make happier reading for Labour, it is clear there is no single student funding model that would be overwhelmingly popular with students.”
Hillman said this would make the opposition party’s job “harder, as they firm up their policies in the run up to the next election”.