NUS 'disgusted' by Commons fees cock-up
Concerns have been raised by the National Union of Students that confusion over business in the House of Commons might well have meant MPs have unintentionally voted to introduce top-up fees in Northern Ireland.
A leading rebel over top-up fees, Labour MP for Selby, John Grogan, has written to the NUS to express concerns he has about the way in which MPs voted to introduce variable fees in Northern Ireland. Mr Grogan, described by the NUS as "a long standing supporter of the student movement and a key figure in the top-up fees furore", is understood to have informed NUS President Kat Fletcher that he and a number of rebels who were against variable fees voted for their introduction by mistake due to confusion over what was being voted on.
It appears that the order to introduce them was slipped in without debate, following four previous divisions on Tuesday 8th March - the same day as the Northern Ireland vote.
The NUS has criticised the MPs, with a House of Commons Early Day Motion having been published in an attempt to name and shame them. However, records failed to mention the order on the summary agendas, and it appears that even the clerks of parliament were confused.
The letter written by the rebel MP states: "I was absolutely mortified to find that along with many of the top-up fees rebels...I voted to introduce top-up fees in Northern Ireland...The vote came at the end of a debate on the Road Safety Bill and when the division bell rang I assumed we were voting for the Third Reading of this Bill. It is now apparent that we all voted to approve the draft Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005."
In response to the shambles NUS President Kat Fletcher said, "We were shocked that a number of top-up fee rebels had seemingly voted for the Northern Ireland order but are now even more disgusted at the way in which this occurred."
She went on to criticise how the issue was handled, highlighting the fact that we are likely to see a general election on 5th May, asking "what sort of message does this send to the voting public about democracy in this country?" She continued her criticisms by talking of students being "appalled" that it was a former NUS President - Labour MP and government whip Jim Murphy - who laid down the bill introducing variable fees to the province.
Following the passing of the order in the House of Lords last week, Northern Irish universities will now be able to charge the same fees their English counterparts will be able to from 2006.
In response, Damien Kavanagh, Convenor of the NUS's Northern Ireland branch, USI, expressed concerns that the order had been passed despite opposition from all political parties in the province, raising the government's now infamous manifesto commitment not to introduce variable fees. "The decision to introduce a market in higher education into Northern Ireland which has just two universities is nonsensical," he said. "We at NUS will keep up the pressure to protect Northern Irish students from fees."
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