Tuition Fees Row Erupts at Shropshire County Council

A Conservative Group Motion calling on Government to scrap tuition fee policy caused uproar in Shirehall today. Cllr Malcolm Pate, Conservative Group Leader, introducing the motion, pointed out the disincentive to younger people to go to university if they are saddled with significant debts on graduation.

But Labour members tried to ban debate on the topic by introducing a guillotine [ ] and both deputy leaders, leading Liberal Democrat Cllr Peter Philips, and independent Cllr Philip Engelhard could not bring b themselves to participate, leaving the chamber for the debate and the vote. Liberal Democrat Cllr Nigel Hartin declared he was implacably opposed to tuition fees, but he and fellow Liberal Democrats could not bring themselves to support the Conservative Motion.

Conservative Parliamentary Candidates Cllr Philip Dunne (Ludlow) and Dan Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) attended the debate. Cllr Dunne said "I was amazed to hear Labour members claiming this motion was not relevant to the Council and seeking to curtail debate. Shropshire County Council is the local education authority. This matter is of huge concern to those young people who have recently done so well in A Levels at Shropshire schools. I know this matters greatly to them and their parents.

The Liberal Democrats are all mixed up over this issue. In Scotland, where they support Labour in office, they have introduced tuition fees. In England they are keen to abolish them. Shropshire's two Liberal Democrat MPs have both signed amendments to Early Day Motions calling for abolition of tuition fees, yet in the Council Chamber their members either ducked out of participating or voted against their own views and those of their MP's.