Standing up for students

Hilary Myers at Todmorden High School

Hilary Myers, Liberal Democrat PPC for Calder Valley, today signed a pledge to voters ahead of the forthcoming general election that she 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.”

Hilary Myers said:

“New graduates are being saddled with thousands of pounds worth of debt at a time when they already struggling to find a job and make ends meet. The Liberal Democrats believe that a university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost.”

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 Hilary Myers is standing up for students and their families in Calder Valley by signing up to this pledge. She has demonstrated her determination to give every young person in Calder Valley 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.