On Wednesday 23rd February the Afro-Caribbean Society at the University of Brighton welcomed Brighton Pavilion Parliamentary candidate Mike Weatherley and Conservative Shadow Education Minister Chris Grayling MP to their meeting for a discussion about ethnicity and student issues. Chris Grayling wrote the Tory higher education policy, and combined with Mike Weatherley’s proactive approach the discussion proved to be very lively.
Mike Weatherley opened discussions by giving students the low-down on his days as a student at South Bank University, and regaled that a guest speaker named Keith Joseph changed his political thinking by arguing the case that bureaucracies do not help people. Mike warned the attending students against tuition fees and referred to the current system as “madness”, though he agreed that a return to the government grants system in place during his time at South Bank was not financially viable.
Chris Grayling highlighted the inefficiencies of the current student funding system:
“We cannot expect students to go on building up more and more debt. Whilst some graduates may enter careers such as banking and earn excellent money, most graduates end up in middle-level jobs as teachers and civil servants. The Conservatives want to fund Universities in a fairer way, which gives a better deal to students and universities without any additional cost to the taxpayer. We are certainly against the Liberal Democrats proposed ‘graduate tax’ – taxes are already up under Labour and we are against further taxation”
Chris Grayling highlighted the Tories proposals, which will cost students significantly less stating “nobody can persuade me that someone from a poorer background or the first member of a family to attend university will not be put off by £3000 fees”:
Chris Grayling calls it “a
much fairer system”. In addition
the Conservatives will provide government bursaries for students studying key
subjects that are vital to the economy such as scientists.
They will also scrap the arbitrary government target of getting 50% of
young people to go to university, and increase the array and availability of
vocational training courses.
The society then asked open questions of Chris Grayling MP, transcribed as follows:
“Why don’t we bring back grants”
CG: “Many more people go to university now than in the past when grants were provided so grants would cost much much more. However there will be a £1500 a year grant for all students from a poorer background. Scrapping the means testing will also make the system much fairer – what happens after university isn’t a reflection what happens before university, so means testing students is unfair. Better off families also lose out under the current system because means testing prevents them from getting loans. Loans shouldn’t be based on family circumstances – we will treat students as individual grown ups. The system will also be simpler with students able to take their loan agreement to their high-street bank who will then pay the loan into their own account”
“Surely simple maths means students will pay back more?”
CG: “Yes graduates will pay £60 a year more in interest, BUT they will pay back £9000 less in total. This means that the loan will be paid off years earlier actually saving students interest costs”
“Why not go back to the Thatcher days of free education?”
CG: “this would involve increasing taxes so students would end up paying out more after graduation anyway. We can’t go back to grants, but we can give a better deal”
“What sort of vocational schemes would you bring in? GNVQ’s are mainly for the working class and ethnic minorities who don’t do well in school – surely its wrong that they’re getting left behind?”
CG: “this is a failure of the system. We don’t want to leave anyone behind. We are not seeking in providing a vocational alternative to prevent young people fulfilling their potential, but for example, more photographers are being trained in the UK today than there are photography jobs in the whole of Europe. Surely they would be better off following a vocational alternative?
“It sounds like a con”
CG: “it’s a fairer system where everybody benefits. Currently the government borrows money for student loans at 6% from banks, which it then lends to students at 3%. The 3% difference in interest is paid by taxpayers straight to the banks. When Labour introduce top-up fees, of the £900m a year that will be raised from students, £600m will go to banks to pay for this 3% difference. This is hugely inefficient. Under the Conservative system students will pay the 6% interest but will have much lower loans because there will be no tuition or top-up fees. This saves the 3% which previously went straight to banks. This amount will now be paid straight to universities, rather than go out to pay banks”
“How long will it take to pay off debts”
CG: “The current average under Labour is 14 years. Under Conservatives it will be 11 years”
“What if I study overseas?”
CG: “you’d still be covered by the same system”
“Politicians are well known for going back on their word”
CG: “Unfortunately the Conservatives are a party who on one occasion in the past got their sums wrong, and had to break their promise not to raise taxes. More than half of Conservative MP’s weren’t MP’s in 1997. Labour fought the 2001 election promising not to introduce top-up fees then introduced them”
“What if sums are wrong now”
CG: “they’re checked by banks, the institute for fiscal studies and the shadow chancellor”
“Why should the dustman pay for a middle class kid to go to university”
CG: “As a society we pay taxes into a pot to provide things we need as a society such as doctors – who need to be trained. You can’t break things down like that. Also the percentage of students from low backgrounds in prestigious British universities in much higher than in the US Ivy League of Universities.”
“What about your immigration policy – testing for TB and Aids?”
CG: “this is not a race issue. As a nation we take 150,000 immigrants each year. We are not big enough as a nation to support this. As a wealthy nation we should help developing countries more by breaking down trade barriers and the CAP. I think its reasonable to test EVERYONE who comes into this country for TB and Aids. If an immigrant is going to have day-1 access to health and education, it is reasonable to test them. We won’t let immigrants into the UK if they have TB. We will review aids on a case-by-case basis. The NHS cannot absorb thousands of people coming into the country for healthcare – at the end of the day it leaves fewer resources for your parents and grandparents”
“You wouldn’t test a British citizen coming back from Africa – why test only the immigrants?”
“We are obliged to treat British citizens because they are citizens”.
The discussion ended with an informal chat during which Mike Weatherley talked to the students about their political ideals and life aspirations.
Students can find out more by visiting www.DontTaxMyTalent.co.uk - a website supported by Mike Weatherley that has been set-up by students from Brighton and Sussex universities.