oh they're all eligible for the loans, aren't they? lI'm just not advising my son to get £60,000 in debt and probably eschew a home of his own or a family."
- Exactly the same situation in regards to my brother. People seem to think that a student loan amounts to a pittance to pay back, it certainly does not.
ccpccp Mon 28-Mar-11 14:28:18
"That means that people will be living a lower standard of life for much longer and may have to think twice before funding a masters or other further education because they already have too much student debt"
So the opportunity isnt being taken away, but you are unhappy that you have to pay for it?
Free higher education was ok when 10% of bright students went for it. But at 50% or so, its another unaffordable Labour policy that has fallen on its face I'm afraid.
- Where did I say I was unhappy to pay for an education? I am currently a student which means I was quite happy to pay for my education at the current fee's I pay. Please can you point out to me where I said I was unhappy to pay for an education?
And if it was not an elitist way of structuring who gets to attend higher education, instead of raising fees, the simple answer would have been to make entry requirements stricter so only the brightest, most able and most willing to achieve could attend. Wouldn't that seem fairer across the board?
And CCP and Carmina you both seem obsessed in making this about the Labour goverment and their mistakes. Carmina your point about them being the one's to introduce fee's is fair enough, no one is pretending otherwise. But it was still a manageable amount for lower income families, especially as Labour provided things like Surestart and subsidised childcare that meant families were spending less elsewhere and could afford to put a bit extra away for educational costs. It balanced out. But the Conservative's are disabling people from being able to do this. For instance, a single parent (of which there are many) had help with childcare and its costs, which meant he/ she could pursue a career and provide an income. Now the cuts are affecting childcare which means less people can afford to go out to work and pay full childcare costs. This in turns means less household income while other benefits are also being slashed. That type of family has nowhere to turn for support. Labour didn't do that. These cuts are too fast and too steep and will affect the people who need support the most. These types of families are being pumelled from all sides.
As for people not protesting against Labour, the explanation I gave above may be a reason why. Also, maybe people needed the situation to become as dire as it is now to sit up and take notice. Whether Labour made mistakes or not is not the point, we are talking about what is happening now. You are acting as if everyone came on here to have some sort of Conservative's V Labour debate, making an assumption that people here who do not support the Conservative's support Labour which is very naive.
Frankly If you have an anti Labour axe to grind, find an adequate place to do it because that is not what we are talking about. No one apart from you guys is screaming about the differences in the two parties, we are talking about the current government and what is happening now, regardless of the previous governments mistakes which no one has denied.