MP in a tight spot
Back in May, Simon Wright surprised everyone by winning Norwich South by just a handful of votes. The young Liberal Democrat’s pledge to oppose an increase in tuition fees may have swung the vote his way.
Fast forward 5 months and the government looks likely to lift the cap on tuition fees, allowing universities to charge what they want. It means Simon Wright is facing his first real test. With such a slim majority, does he betray those who voted for him on this key issue, or this early in the Parliamentary term, can he get away with a complete policy u-turn?
Few would have predicted a Tory-Lib Dem coalition prior to this year’s general election. So Simon Wright probably never expected to have to keep any of the policy promises he made on his campaign trail. But this week’s Browne Report, which recommends abolishing the current cap on tuition fees, puts him in a tight spot.
The MP, a former teacher himself, went on record opposing a rise in tuition fees. Now part of the coalition government, he’s carefully re-positioning himself. This week he had meetings with Vince Cable, the National Union of Students and on Saturday will meet with representatives from UEA’s Students’ Union: “I’m determined to do all that I can to influence the government. We need a system in place which is progressive but which also puts universities on a sound financial footing.”
The government will give its policy response to the Browne Report in a few weeks. Simon Wright says his role is to scutinise the proposals and push for an “on-going dialogue” with ministers. He points out that there are some aspects of the Browne Report which make the system fairer, such as raising the repayment thresholds from £15 to £21 thousand. He now says, doing nothing is not an option: “Maintaining the status quo is impossible. The strain on universities is far too great. The question is how you implement change. What we need is a deal that comes out of this that puts us in a fairer position than we are currently in.”
Today Charles Kennedy joined other high profile Lib Dem MPs in saying he’d vote against a rise in fees. Simon Wright has not yet said how he will vote. But while he meets with students this Saturday, he will be concious that hundreds of his constituents also work at the University of East Anglia, whose jobs depend on universities finding a sure financial footing. Simon Wright’s challenge is to fight for a fairer system from within, without letting down the very people who voted for him.
One Comment to “MP in a tight spot”
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Sadly Simon Wright doesn’t seem to be doing much fighting for fairness, so I’ll be voting Green next time.