Tuition Fees would be a dividing issue throughout the ConLib coalition
“Let’s be clear about what has happened. The House of Commons has not voted only for a rise in tuition fees in English universities. It has voted for the privatisation of British Higher education. Micheal Gove announced the creation of Britain’s second private university – the first for 20 years. That university is run by BPP, a provider of various professional qualifications, listed on the Stock Exchange since 1986. In 2009, BPP became part of Apollo Global Inc. The purpose of Apollo Global is to make profit from the opportunities presented by a global knowledge economy. Individuals need qualifications to sell themselves on the global labour market, and they're willing to pay a lot of money for it. But entering the higher education market is challenging. The entry costs are high. It takes a lot of money to build and staff a campus, and years to develop the kind of reputation that inspires full confidence. And there are already lots of established ‘brands’ providing Higher Education.” - Britain, greet the age of privatised Higher Education, Alan Finlayson, OpenDemocracy (2009)
In the sweltering heat of July came a reckoning for the Commonwealth’s Liberal Democrats, the Higher Education Act of 2009. Amongst several reforms to “streamline” and “moderniser” universities, there was a raising of tuition fees from £3,000 a year under the Labour Government to £6,000, doubling the level of debt for young people. This policy was particularly damming for the Liberal Democrats, anti-war and anti-fees young people had been the party’s base of support throughout the last few Parliaments, worst of all Liberal Democrats, including Ed Davey and Vince Cable had signed the National Union of Students pledge to abolish fees should they get into Government. Not only had the Lib Dems failed to scrap fees, their MPs were actively voting to increase it.
Most Liberal Democrat candidates signed the NUS pledge during the 2008 election
Protests erupted in London and around the country. In Birmingham about 30 protesters occupied the city council's offices. There were also protests in Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Belfast, Brighton and Manchester. School pupils took to the streets to join students. The Met police arrested a total of 160 people during the course of protests in London. Some 140 were arrested for breach of the peace, and ten with violent disorder.
The opposition hoped to use this division to bring the coalition crashing down just a year after its birth. David Miliband condemned the fees as a "tragedy for a whole generation of young people". Miliband confirmed his party would vote against the proposals. Miliband argued that it was unfair that the cost of degree courses was being put on to students. Miliband warned that fees would "force students to choose the cheapest courses, not the one that suits them best". The Greens and SNP also saw an increase in support due to their policy of scrapping tuition fees. In a viral speech, Green MP Shahrar Ali condemned MPs for hypocrisy, arguing that they had all benefited from free tuition fees and had “pulled the ladder up behind them.” Despite rumours that Cable or Huhne would resign, most Liberal Democrats kept the faith and travelled through the aye lobby in support of the Government. The coalition was here to stay.
“The government has survived a revolt by Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs over its plans to increase tuition fees. Parliament approved the policy 46 votes. The coalition lost its majority and had to be bailed out by UKIP MPs following an impassioned five-hour Commons debate. 46 Lib Dem MPs rebelled, along with five Conservatives. The coalition motion, backed by 340 votes to 294, would raise fees to £6,000 a year. The debate took place while thousands of students staged protests at Westminster. After the outcome became clear, protesters smashed windows in the Treasury buildings. Ministers said that the fees increase was necessary and fair, but Labour argued it would deter the poor from going to university. Some 46 Lib Dems rebelled, while 76 - including the party's ministers - backed the change, and three abstained. Five Tory MPs voted against the motion and two abstained. All Lib Dem MPs said before the election that they would oppose any rise in tuition fees. The coalition deal included an agreement to allow them to abstain in any vote on the issue.” - Tuition Fees Vote, BBC (2009)
This wasn’t the only scandal of the summer. The Guardian published allegations that the publisher of the News of the World paid £1m in court costs after its journalists were involved in phone tapping. The Guardian claimed News of the World settled three cases after obtaining information illegally. It claimed News Group paid £700,000 in damages and costs to the head of the professional footballers' association. News of the World targeted over 3,000 high-profile figures. These included model Elle Macpherson and former Vice President John Prescott. The scandal especially affected the Conservative Party, this was because the editor at the time of the hacking, Andy Coulson was now George Osborne's press officer. Osborne said he was "very relaxed" about the story. "The ramping up of this story is ridiculous - this is about a payment made well after Andy left the News of the World." This launched a massive legal case and the decline of public trust in both the media and the Conservative Party.
Coulson made the cardinal sin of a political staffer, he became the story
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Eric Pickles was struggling to stay on top of the growing Swine Flu pandemic. The Government launched the National Pandemic Flu Service across England. This was a website and phone line allowing people who thought they had the virus to bypass the NHS to get antiviral drugs. The website crashed within hours of its launch due to the overwhelming demand. This further fed to the narrative of a dysfunctional coalition Government that was unable to deal with events, for a Labour Party coming out of a disastrous defeat, the chaos was warmly welcomed. Labour saw a small uptick in its polling mostly at the expense of the two coalition parties, especially the Lib Dems
“A new poll reveals that the 'fees generation' are opposed to any increase in university fees. The poll, conducted by YouGov for UCU shows that a staggering 85% of young people (18-24 year olds) oppose an increase in student tuition fees. Only 5% are in favour. 2011's elections will be the first for many students who started their university education. The poll's warning was echoed by Senator John Leech who called on the party to make education a natural Liberal issue. Scott said the party should force the Tories to show their hand on the issue. UCU is warning that the 'fees generation' may reap revenge unless the Lib Dems commit not to increase university tuition fees. In the 2008 general election the Liberal Democrats led Labour among 18-24 year olds, now Labour leads. UCU said today that any party wishing to win the next election could not afford to ignore voters on the controversial issue of student funding. Even in 2005, top-up fees' unpopularity had led to defeat for Labour in areas with large populations of students.” - Beware revenge of 'fees generation' poll warns Lib Dems, UCU (2009)
UCU Industrial Action spread like wildfire around the country
The Government’s attempts to get a handle on the Swine Flu situation included a mass delivery of informative leaflets to every household in the country, whilst this massive project started weeks ago, it faced a snag. Business Secretary Dominic Grieve had announced his intentions to privatise Royal Mail. This received a great backlash from Britain’s major trade unions who argued the Government was being opportunistic in its privatisation and should wait until after the pandemic, Royal Mail workers were risking disease through working and were scared of receiving worse conditions.
The Government didn’t listen and Osborne confirmed in October the privatisation would be going ahead. In response workers voted to take strike action over job security and working conditions. They voted three to one in favour of action, with nearly 62,000 out of a total of 81,000 workers who voted saying they wanted to strike. The Government tried to de-legitimise the strike, arguing said 60% of the total number of postal workers working in the UK did not vote to strike. Whilst most expected the union to vote in favour of strike actions, the landslide result came as a great surprise. Three quarters of union members polled endorsed the union's call for a national stoppage. This undermined the suggestion that disaffection was restricted to a few hotspots. The CWU, and its leader Billy Hayes were a formidable opponent. Vice President Michael Ancram "condemned" the plan to strike as "deplorable and irresponsible". He said it would drive away customers and undermine confidence in the postal service. The privatisation of Royal Mail would not be the last privatisation controversy of the year.
“Dominic Grieve today insisted the government's plan to privatise Royal Mail would bring a "gale force of fresh air" to its management. Whilst David Miliband said Labour would support the use of some private companies in Royal Mail, he ruled out supporting any full privatisation. Labour rebels are geared up for a fight over the proposals. The Business Secretary said that it was too much to expect the taxpayer to take on the whole burden of financing the modernisation of the company. But Labour and Liberal Democrat backbenches opposed to the move claimed that they had the support of some cabinet ministers. More than 30 Labour MPs have already signed a Commons early day motion (EDM) saying they are opposed to the scheme. They want Royal Mail to remain "wholly publicly-owned". Earlier today, Grieve met around 20 Liberal Democrat MPs in the Commons to discuss the issue. The meeting was "civilised", although the business secretary did not give ground and did not appear to win over any of his critics.” - Grieve insists Royal Mail privatisation will go ahead, Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian (2009)
The last 2000s saw an upsurge in industrial action in the UK, both from UCU and the CWU
To what extent did the 2008 coalition bring stability to the Commonwealth? (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam (2019)