Graduate Tax: This is not a good time to be young

By Sean Ruston

With deep cuts expected to Higher Education, huge numbers of school leavers missing out on university places, and record youth unemployment this is not a good time to be young.

Having just graduated from University myself, and with lots of friends struggling to find work at a time when there are reportedly up to 70 graduates for every graduate job, I know that students are angry with talk of higher tuition fees; that would add insult to injury.

I’ve been looking at the candidates for the leadership to see who shows they understand the current difficulties facing young people.

I am really pleased to see Ed Miliband taking such a strong position supporting a progressive Graduate Tax, a policy supported by the National Union of Students, and a real alternative to the unregulated market in fees being proposed by some University Vice Chancellors.

A graduate tax would bring in more money than the current system of fees – but it would also do so in a fairer way, with contributions linked to earnings, better reflecting the value an individual gained from their degree.

Last week the Daily Telegraph quoted comments by David Miliband in which he seemed to suggest that he too had committed himself to an alternative to the current fees regime. However, soon after sources in his campaign clarified that he supported the current system of fees, making him the only candidate for the leadership still committed to a policy that leaves students with eye-watering amounts of personal debt.

It is disappointing that David Miliband appears wedded to the current system, which penalises those who choose to enter low paid professions, with social workers and teachers forced to pay back more than the investment banker who earns more and can pay faster. David Miliband should now outline why he supports the current system, and what he will do if Lord Browne calls for an increase in tuition fees.

When I welcome new students to University this autumn as an officer at a Student Union I know that their debt is forecast to reach nearly £25,000. It’s difficult to see how this can be justified, especially considering the negligible changes in student satisfaction scores achieved by Universities since fees were introduced. But this issue is not just of interest to students, it affects families up and down the country, and is a real dividing line within the coalition. Voters in this leadership election deserve to know why David Miliband doesn’t support a costed alternative increasingly favoured by so many.

I’ll be voting for Ed Miliband, because with his commitment to the intern aware campaign, living wage and graduate tax he’s shown that he understands the needs of a generation scarred by unemployment, debt and lost opportunity. And he offers a new hope to that generation, with the plans to achieve a better future.

Sean writes in a personal capacity.