LOCAL STUDENTS COULD FACE £7,000 TUITION FEES

12.00.00am GMT Mon 9th Nov 2009

There is now less than eight months to save a new generation of young people from huge increases in university tuition fees, according to Liberal Democrat candidate for Durham, Carol Woods.

Carol was speaking after both Labour and the Conservatives revealed they would permit huge increases in tuition fees.

The Conservatives suggested they will increase tuition fees to £7,000 if they take power at the next general election, which has to be held by next June.

That will see tuition fees for undergraduates more than double. Currently there is a cap of £3,300 in England and Wales.

Peter Mandelson has already suggested that Labour will allow universities to charge more than at present if re-elected - though the party is too scared to push through the changes it wants before June.

Only the Liberal Democrats will scrap tuition fees. The party believes university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go - and not be put off by the cost.

Carol Woods said: "I speak to young people in Durham who return from university with no job and a bank balance tens of thousands of pounds in the red. What sort of message is that to send out to the aspirational youngsters of Durham?

"Labour and now the Tories are showing their true colours. They don't care about young people - they just want to saddle them with staggering amounts of debt.

"With the Conservatives out of the race in Durham, the choice is clear: local people can vote for Labour, who broke their promises on university fees, or they can back the Lib Dems who will make education free again, giving young people the best possible start."