Scottish people show strong support for free tuition
by The SNP’s Katy Loudon, former teacher and candidate in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, has praised the “transformative impact” of free tuition as a key element of John Swinney’s Cost of Living Guarantee as a poll showed strong Scottish public support for the policy.
The poll, conducted by Survation for True North, revealed that 57% of respondents support the SNP policy of free tuition with only 17% opposed to it. Those backing free tuition include over half of those who voted Labour last year.
Free tuition is one of four elements of John Swinney’s Cost of Living Guarantee. Others include free prescriptions, expanded free childcare and the lowest council tax bills in the UK.
In 2008 the SNP scrapped the ‘Graduate Endowment’ – the label Labour and the LibDems gave to their version of tuition fees.
Tuition fees were first introduced by the Labour party in 1998 despite Tony Blair declaring just weeks before the 1997 election that: “Labour has no plans to introduce tuition fees for higher education.”
And Labour still can’t be trusted with tuition fees.
To be elected Labour leader, Keir Starmer promised Labour members he would “support the abolition of tuition fees”. Yet now he claims it would be ‘impossible‘ to abolish tuition fees despite the fact it is a reality in Scotland.
Since being elected Labour has increased tuition fees in England to a staggering £9,535. If those fees were imposed in Scotland, parents of two children, would face having to pay £76,280 for their children’s education.
With Scottish Labour’s finance spokesperson signalling that they could consider bringing in backdoor tuition fees, the threat of the return oftuition fees in Scotland still looms.
Commenting on tuition fees, Katy Loudon said:
“As a former teacher, I know first-hand the transformative impact that free tuition has had on Scotland’s young people.
“Under the SNP, there are record numbers of Scottish students attending university and near-record numbers from our most deprived areas.
“Meanwhile Labour governments in England and Wales have increased tuition fees to record levels.
“I, along with many fellow teachers and parents, have seen countless futures changed by free tuition, and I’m enormously proud of the difference SNP policies like this are making every day.
“Labour in power is letting Scots down, but you know the SNP is always on Scotland’s side.
“The SNP abolished Labour’s tuition fees and we will never let them be reimposed on Scotland’s students.”