At Lib Dem Conference Nick Clegg pulled no punches, if you'll excuse the worn cliche.
Refreshingly, he has made the party realise that finally being in POWER, involves taking and defending tough decisions and the message is clear, 'Man up, or ship out'. Speaking to The Independent the day before his speech he spelt out that there is no future for the Lib Dems as a left-wing alternative to Labour, a diet coke Labour party.
Clearly this will disappoint those within the party who would much rather that the party continued to sit on the sidelines throwing tiny stones at those in power. It will most probably lead to the exodus of many who joined the party solely due to their position on the Iraq war, for example. But Clegg is taking a risk, which may pay dividends come 2015. It might not, but there's only one way to find out!
Getting rid of deadwood is nothing new to the party. When the Lib Dems were formed after the merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democrats the collected leadership of those two parties before the merger was greater than the number of members of the single party after the merger.
As long as Clegg can clearly show that the party is making a positive impact on the coalition then he won't really have to worry about low opinion poll numbers right now, what with it not being election time.
If the AV referendum next May fails a reassessment will be in order, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now Mr Clegg is giving a much needed kick those complacent moaners within who'd like nothing more than to have the luxury of opposition right now...
Sunday 19 September 2010
Thursday 9 September 2010
Graduate Tax? NEVER NEVER NEVER!
I hope I didn't scare you by invoking Ian Paisley there but this is important goddammit. Here's why the Graduate Tax should not be implemented!
Whenever the topic of student finance or student debt is discussed in the media, newspaper articles, television news bulletins, and political speeches are imbued with phrases like 'students are saddled with (so and so) amount of debt coming out of university'.
The average student now leaves university with on average between £25,000 and £30,000 of student debt. I know this because in little under a years time i will add to this seemingly daunting statistic. While i would hesitate at describing myself as an 'average' student (I do lots and lots of work yer know!) I will myself be in a situation where upon graduating I will be in debt.
The word debt scares a great many people these days and understandably so, considering the collective brutal hangover that our public and personal finances are nursing.
However, the entire point of our current system of financing higher education, which many politicians like to forget (at least in public anyway), is that the debt:
A) does not have to be paid until the graduate is in a job that pays AT LEAST £15,000 p.a.
B) is charged at an interest of 1.5% and pegged to the rate of inflation (for now at least)
C) is written off completely if the graduate is not in a job paying £15,000 p.a. after a certain period of time.
What does all this add up to? Well what it means is an effectively "free" loan with very generous conditions. This is a humane and FAIR (the watch word du jour) way of financing higher education.
Let's not forget that university graduates already pay a graduate tax; it's called INCOME TAX. One of the initial findings of the Browne Review, which has now taken on a near-mythical status, is that the current level of fees for HE, while far from perfect, has not deterred potential student from enrolling in courses.
The main objection to the proposed 'Graduate Contribution' or Tax, is that it would turn the student loan into one you would never pay off. Regardless of the cost of your course, you would be paying back several times the the original cost of tuition.
Studies have suggested that a university education can on average add £100,000 to your income over your lifespan. That seems a great amount but let's examine this more closely shall we? If you retire at the age of 65 having graduated from university or FE college at the age of 22, then if we use the example above you've added approximately £2300 to your yearly salary. While this example ignores any number of variables and is only an illustration of the 'average' the fact remains that a Graduate Tax would penalise you disproportionately.
Now that really isn't not FAIR and it serves to do nothing more than to stifle ambition, not to mention penalising those from poorer backgrounds who have benefited from a university education. The system as it is only needs to be tweaked to help those in further need. Not reformed wholesale to punish those who move up the ladder as a result of their education. BOOM.
I realise that the official Lib Dem stance has always been one of opposition to tuition fees (a position i could not disagree with more) and that by implementing a graduate tax they could say that they have abolished top up fees but this would simply be an illusion.
This whole debate really taps into a more fundamental issue that our country faces when it comes to higher education. Nowhere near enough is done to promote other equally valid and important forms of higher education other than academic study. A rise in apprenticeships, vocational and technical qualifications would do so much to help strengthen our skill base. And must I mention inexorable good it would do the country to have a more varied and equally geared economy. Here, apprenticeships and technical college qualifications do not enjoy the respect and equal status with academic qualifications that is seen in some of the most dynamic and prosperous countries in other parts of Europe like Germany and Switzerland. Sort it out.
Now I'll leave you in peace to enjoy your chips.
CtF
Whenever the topic of student finance or student debt is discussed in the media, newspaper articles, television news bulletins, and political speeches are imbued with phrases like 'students are saddled with (so and so) amount of debt coming out of university'.
The average student now leaves university with on average between £25,000 and £30,000 of student debt. I know this because in little under a years time i will add to this seemingly daunting statistic. While i would hesitate at describing myself as an 'average' student (I do lots and lots of work yer know!) I will myself be in a situation where upon graduating I will be in debt.
The word debt scares a great many people these days and understandably so, considering the collective brutal hangover that our public and personal finances are nursing.
However, the entire point of our current system of financing higher education, which many politicians like to forget (at least in public anyway), is that the debt:
A) does not have to be paid until the graduate is in a job that pays AT LEAST £15,000 p.a.
B) is charged at an interest of 1.5% and pegged to the rate of inflation (for now at least)
C) is written off completely if the graduate is not in a job paying £15,000 p.a. after a certain period of time.
What does all this add up to? Well what it means is an effectively "free" loan with very generous conditions. This is a humane and FAIR (the watch word du jour) way of financing higher education.
Let's not forget that university graduates already pay a graduate tax; it's called INCOME TAX. One of the initial findings of the Browne Review, which has now taken on a near-mythical status, is that the current level of fees for HE, while far from perfect, has not deterred potential student from enrolling in courses.
The main objection to the proposed 'Graduate Contribution' or Tax, is that it would turn the student loan into one you would never pay off. Regardless of the cost of your course, you would be paying back several times the the original cost of tuition.
Studies have suggested that a university education can on average add £100,000 to your income over your lifespan. That seems a great amount but let's examine this more closely shall we? If you retire at the age of 65 having graduated from university or FE college at the age of 22, then if we use the example above you've added approximately £2300 to your yearly salary. While this example ignores any number of variables and is only an illustration of the 'average' the fact remains that a Graduate Tax would penalise you disproportionately.
Now that really isn't not FAIR and it serves to do nothing more than to stifle ambition, not to mention penalising those from poorer backgrounds who have benefited from a university education. The system as it is only needs to be tweaked to help those in further need. Not reformed wholesale to punish those who move up the ladder as a result of their education. BOOM.
I realise that the official Lib Dem stance has always been one of opposition to tuition fees (a position i could not disagree with more) and that by implementing a graduate tax they could say that they have abolished top up fees but this would simply be an illusion.
This whole debate really taps into a more fundamental issue that our country faces when it comes to higher education. Nowhere near enough is done to promote other equally valid and important forms of higher education other than academic study. A rise in apprenticeships, vocational and technical qualifications would do so much to help strengthen our skill base. And must I mention inexorable good it would do the country to have a more varied and equally geared economy. Here, apprenticeships and technical college qualifications do not enjoy the respect and equal status with academic qualifications that is seen in some of the most dynamic and prosperous countries in other parts of Europe like Germany and Switzerland. Sort it out.
Now I'll leave you in peace to enjoy your chips.
CtF
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