Party Lines: December 9th (Tuition fees edition)

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By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ed Miliband said that today was a “bad day for democracy” and that it was “families and young people” that he’s thinking about tonight, after tuition fees were hiked by the coalition. In an interview with BBC News, Miliband went on to say:

Ed Miliband“It doesnt just damage trust in the Liberal Democrats, frankly it damages trust in politics as a whole.”

“They did get their proposals through but they have damaged trusts in themselves, in particular in the case of the Liberal Democrats, profoundly today.”

“The idea that they are a party that can be trusted has gone, the idea that they can be a progressive party has gone.”

“The lesson of what the Liberal Democrats have done is don’t make promises you’re absolutely sure you can keep. I’m going to be a politician that under promises and over delivers rather than the opposite.”

Also speaking after the vote, John Denham said that the Lib Dems have “lost all credibility”:

John Denham“This is a moment of no turning back for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. They have lost all credibility with the country and cannot now claim to be a party of fairness.

“The government is tripling fees and cutting public funding for university teaching by 80%, leaving English students facing the highest public university fees in the industrialised world. This was only made possible by the support of Liberal Democrats – they should hang their heads in shame.

“This decision was not about deficit reduction, but a political choice, driven by the Conservative and Lib Dem Government, to cut most university teaching funding and put the burden for most degrees solely onto students. They will face huge debts and many will pay back for 30 years. The plans are not fair, not necessary and not good for higher education. Conservatives and Liberal Democrat MPs have let down their constituents, let down young people and let down higher education.”

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