One of the constituencies that you can vote in is Brighton Pavillion, and three candidates from the leading political parties have already signed the NUS candidates pledge to vote against a rise in university fees. One candidate Charlotte Vere (Conservative) has not but you could influence her to sign the pledge today, ensuring that whoever Brighton Pavillion elects to parliament will vote against any increase in fees.
As a constituent you are entitled to know where prospective candidates stand on specific isses.
Email Charlotte Vere now
Copy and paste this letter, don’t forget to include your postal address in the email
Put your address in here
I’m a constituent in Brighton Pavillion and I am asking you to sign the NUS Funding Our Future pledge: “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative.”
You can sign up here (it takes just 30 seconds).
Graduates are currently leaving university with debts of more than £23,000. An increase in the cap on student fees would intensify the financial pressure on young people and their families at a time of great economic uncertainty and dire employment prospect for young people. At a time when families are already very much feeling the pinch, there is very little appetite for extra burdens on the family budget.
Indeed, according to NUS recent polling work with YouGov, 88% of the public do not think an increase in fees should even be considered, while NUS polling with Opinionpanel shows that 79% of students would be influenced by a party’s position on higher education when making their choice at the ballot box.
While student fees have nearly trebled since 2006, overall student satisfaction has increased by just 1%. The Daily Telegraph reported, universities are hiring managers at three times the rate of academics and there is increasing concern that money is being poorly spent. Students simply cannot be expected to pay more for less.
When the election is announced NUS will be emailing students with details of local parliamentary candidates who have signed the NUS pledge in advance of polling day. Caroline Lucas, Nancy Platts and Berni Millam have already signed the pledge joining more than 500 parliamentary candidates from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat party.
By signing up to this pledge, you would be stating that a crude raising of the top-up fee cap is not a sustainable approach to the future funding of higher education and that we must instead look into alternatives.
End of letter
Please email Charlotte Vere right now and ask her to sign NUS’ pledge. Please be sure to include your address to prove that you are in his constituency.
Email Charlotte Vere
If you recieve a response from Charlotte Vere please let the NUS know. Already thousands of students have signed up to Vote for Students, please help us influence more candidates by forwarding this message too your friends.
Many thanks, in voting for students solidarity.
For more information about the General Election click here
2 responses so far ↓
1 Charlotte Vere // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:40 pm
There is currently an independent review underway on tuition fees and student finance. I am astonished that any of the candidates can promise anything without knowing the outcome of this independent review - it sounds irresponsible and could be a case of promising things to win votes? I don’t believe politicians should do that.
Please read my blog post for my thoughts on Universities under a Conservative Government - http://www.charlottevere.com/blog/62
Kind regards,
Charlotte Vere (Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Pavilion)
2 comms // Mar 22, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Thanks for your comments Charlotte - good to know that we’re being heard!
Having read your blog however, I would take issue with some of the points you have made
- You say that “We support the principle that those who benefit from higher education should meet some of the cost of their degree,” but doesn’t society as a whole benefit from higher education? Is it only the doctor, economist or lawyer that benefits from her/his education? If higher education was an entirely and merely of selfish, individual monetary benefit, then I’d agree with you, but then - what would even be the point in higher education in our society if that were the case?
- You also say “A better educational experience for students is an essential quid pro quo for any change to the tuition fees cap,” yet ever since tuition fees were introduced, students have seen no marked improvement to the education they have been given. Now it is being suggested that students should actually pay even more still for an education that is in fact receiving huge funding cuts, job losses and increasing class sizes.
Graduates are more in debt than ever, with less jobs available than ever, in an economy largely damaged because of this increasing debt. What, in concrete terms, do the Tories really think that students, graduates and society as a whole will gain (other than higher debt, and declining social mobility) from paying more for their higher education?
- You also talk about other candidates “promising things to win votes”. That’s what standing for election is all about is all about isn’t it? It seems to me that you are simply avoiding having to take a stance on the issue - hiding behind the fees review gives little indication of what you’re true intentions are regarding higher education. Is this review really likely to change your opinion on the issue, regardless of the outcome? If the review recommended that students pay nothing for their degree, would you agree with and respect that outcome?
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