The River’s Ollie Gillman talks about tuition fees rising and Ed Davey breaking promises.
Ollie Gillman
Nick Clegg and Ed Davey really have landed themselves in a bit of an Eric Pickles. Some call it a complete Ed Balls-up, but I just think they’re a couple of Jeremy Hunts.
Kingston’s MP Ed Davey and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have said sorry for promising they would not put tuition fees up, and then stabbing students in the back to the tune of an extra £6,000 a year.
So one would assume that all is forgiven and forgotten, right?
Nah.
Kingston students won’t make the same mistake with the man who is quickly becoming Kingston’s own Ashley Cole, Ed Davey. In terms of unpopularity, not infidelity, that is.
No matter how much we used to adore him, and how many times he says sorry, we’re just not prepared to fight for his love.
Actually, sorry for comparing you to a Lib Dem, Ash. You didn’t deserve that. Though you and Ed both think your bosses are a bunch of…um…twits.
The question raised by Nick and Ed’s not-so-sincere apology, is not “can we forgive the Lib Dems?”, but, “do the Lib Dems realise how severely they’ve betrayed students’ trust?”
In the words of Sir Elton John: Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. You wouldn’t have thought so however, looking at how easily that apology rolled off Clegg’s tongue.
The sun has gone down on the once happy relationship between the Lib Dems and students.
An apology loses a large amount of its sincerity when you need a committee meeting to discuss if it would work politically.
If an apology is satisfactory for effectively stealing £6,000 annually from thousands, what else could the government ‘Nick’ from you and get away with?
Apart from your faith in what seemed like a lovely, student-friendly party, I mean.
Oh, and the NHS, the police, Disability Living Allowance and housing benefits to name a few.
Clegg, Davey and their Tory coalition pals are hammering nail after nail into the coffin of the welfare state.
Nick Clegg’s repentant speech, and subsequent auto tune chart sensation, skyrocketed to 143 in the UK singles chart.
In fairness to him, all the profits went to Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
It would’ve been nice if he’d got a round in for all the freshers that he has screwed over here at Kingston, and around the country. However, I’ll let him off on that one.
Seriously though, did Nick really expect students to believe that he made his tuition fees pledge with “the best of intentions”?
Ed Davey himself admitted that if he was “brutally honest”, there was next to no chance of the Lib Dems being elected, and therefore being able to meet their pledge.
I have no doubt that Nick Clegg regrets his promise, and that Ed Davey regrets toeing the party line.
After all, they both know that a stitch in time would have saved £9,000 for students, a heck of a lot of votes at the next election, and maybe, just maybe, they would have saved a shred of integrity.