This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/education/live/2018/feb/19/theresa-may-to-set-out-tuition-fee-proposals-politics-live
The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 10 | Version 11 |
|---|---|
| Theresa May speaking in Derby about tuition fees plan - politics as it happened | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| I’m going to close this live blog down now. Thanks for reading and for all of your comments. | I’m going to close this live blog down now. Thanks for reading and for all of your comments. |
| The prime minister, Theresa May, has set out the government’s review of post-18 education in a speech in Derby on Monday afternoon. She said it will focus on ensuring everyone can access higher education, the funding system, incentivising choice and competition and how to deliver the skills the country needs. | The prime minister, Theresa May, has set out the government’s review of post-18 education in a speech in Derby on Monday afternoon. She said it will focus on ensuring everyone can access higher education, the funding system, incentivising choice and competition and how to deliver the skills the country needs. |
| She told ITV’s This Morning she feels secure in her job and does not worry about being deposed. “I’m doing a job and I’m going to jolly well get on and do it,” she told Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield ahead of her Derby speech. | She told ITV’s This Morning she feels secure in her job and does not worry about being deposed. “I’m doing a job and I’m going to jolly well get on and do it,” she told Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield ahead of her Derby speech. |
| Downing Street dismissed calls for an early Commons vote on plans to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600. (See 2.15pm). | Downing Street dismissed calls for an early Commons vote on plans to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600. (See 2.15pm). |
| Theresa May says we should be concerned when Vice-Chancellors sit on remuneration bodies that determine their pay | Theresa May says we should be concerned when Vice-Chancellors sit on remuneration bodies that determine their pay |
| A bit of a change of pace to end the question and answer session: | A bit of a change of pace to end the question and answer session: |
| May asked about Corbyn and Czech claims 'it's for individual MP s to be accountable - where there are allegations of this sort they shoudl be prepared to be open and transparent' | May asked about Corbyn and Czech claims 'it's for individual MP s to be accountable - where there are allegations of this sort they shoudl be prepared to be open and transparent' |
| toAnd, with that, the prime minister exits stage left to polite applause. | toAnd, with that, the prime minister exits stage left to polite applause. |
| Having suggested there should be a greater focus on technical education, May refuses to give a target for how many people should be going to university. She says it is “about ensuring the routes are available, the opportunities are available, but also young people are able to make the choice that suits them and suits their needs”. | Having suggested there should be a greater focus on technical education, May refuses to give a target for how many people should be going to university. She says it is “about ensuring the routes are available, the opportunities are available, but also young people are able to make the choice that suits them and suits their needs”. |
| Answering that question (below) from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, May distinguishes between those she says benefit from university education and those who do not. | Answering that question (below) from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, May distinguishes between those she says benefit from university education and those who do not. |
| I think it is important that both students and tax payers contribute. I think it’s important that students contribute because, as the secretary of state [for education] said at the weekend, you’ve got two groups of people: those who go from university and benefit from going to university; and those who do not. | I think it is important that both students and tax payers contribute. I think it’s important that students contribute because, as the secretary of state [for education] said at the weekend, you’ve got two groups of people: those who go from university and benefit from going to university; and those who do not. |
| And we think that those who benefit from going to university should make a contribution to that. | And we think that those who benefit from going to university should make a contribution to that. |
| What the review is going to do is to look at that, ensuring that the system is fair both to students and tax payers and ensuring that it is a system that is genuinely open to people from whatever their background. | What the review is going to do is to look at that, ensuring that the system is fair both to students and tax payers and ensuring that it is a system that is genuinely open to people from whatever their background. |
| Theresa May is asked whether tax payers will have to contribute more in future. | Theresa May is asked whether tax payers will have to contribute more in future. |
| She says it is important that “students” and “tax payers” each pay a contribution and says some sections of society benefit from going to university, while others do not. But she does not directly address the question. | She says it is important that “students” and “tax payers” each pay a contribution and says some sections of society benefit from going to university, while others do not. But she does not directly address the question. |
| The prime minister is now taking questions from journalists. She is asked why she has not committed to reducing interest rates on debts and reintroducing maintenance grants. | The prime minister is now taking questions from journalists. She is asked why she has not committed to reducing interest rates on debts and reintroducing maintenance grants. |
| May says the government has taken action: it has raised the repayment threshold and has frozen fees. | May says the government has taken action: it has raised the repayment threshold and has frozen fees. |
| It is time to take action to ensure that the system is “flexible enough to ensure that everyone gets the education that suits them”, Theresa May says. | It is time to take action to ensure that the system is “flexible enough to ensure that everyone gets the education that suits them”, Theresa May says. |
| The prime minister says the review will focus on four key questions: | The prime minister says the review will focus on four key questions: |
| Ensuring everyone can access higher education | Ensuring everyone can access higher education |
| The funding system | The funding system |
| Incentivising choice and competition | Incentivising choice and competition |
| How to deliver the skills the country needs. | How to deliver the skills the country needs. |
| The review will look at “the whole question of how students and graduates contribute to their education”, May says. She adds that she believes that university students should make a contribution towards their degree. | The review will look at “the whole question of how students and graduates contribute to their education”, May says. She adds that she believes that university students should make a contribution towards their degree. |
| May claims that Labour’s policy to make fees free would mean tax hikes for the majority who don’t go to uni, force unis to compete with hospitals and schools for funding and result in cap being reintroduced on numbers. | May claims that Labour’s policy to make fees free would mean tax hikes for the majority who don’t go to uni, force unis to compete with hospitals and schools for funding and result in cap being reintroduced on numbers. |
| May is in the difficult position of having to acknowledge what’s not working within the further education sector, while knowing that a government of which she was a senior member was responsible for creating it in its current form. | May is in the difficult position of having to acknowledge what’s not working within the further education sector, while knowing that a government of which she was a senior member was responsible for creating it in its current form. |
| Theresa May gives Labour the soundbite it will run over and over and over again as she says “we now have one of the most expensive systems... in the world” as she launches review of higher education. | Theresa May gives Labour the soundbite it will run over and over and over again as she says “we now have one of the most expensive systems... in the world” as she launches review of higher education. |
| May says those who benefit from higher education should bear its costs and that it would be unfair to place it on society as a whole because many people did not go to university and, generally, earn less. | May says those who benefit from higher education should bear its costs and that it would be unfair to place it on society as a whole because many people did not go to university and, generally, earn less. |
| Review will look at whole question of how students pay - principle that students and taxpayers both contribute is an important one, she says | Review will look at whole question of how students pay - principle that students and taxpayers both contribute is an important one, she says |
| 'it's only fair', May says, that people who benefit from education should contribute directly, to their education, to do otherwise would lead to tax increases + higher education to compete with NHS + schools for cash + a cap on numbers she claims | 'it's only fair', May says, that people who benefit from education should contribute directly, to their education, to do otherwise would lead to tax increases + higher education to compete with NHS + schools for cash + a cap on numbers she claims |
| May repeats her “other people’s children” line from earlier (see 11.33am), saying the country needs to recognise the alternative of a technical education. | May repeats her “other people’s children” line from earlier (see 11.33am), saying the country needs to recognise the alternative of a technical education. |
| May invokes the image of a second child: a middle-class girl who wants to be a software developer, but who is told she must go to university, rather than following a different path. | May invokes the image of a second child: a middle-class girl who wants to be a software developer, but who is told she must go to university, rather than following a different path. |
| Neither situation is beneficial for the country, May says. | Neither situation is beneficial for the country, May says. |
| May asks her audience to imagine a working-class boy at a state school who aspires to make it in the legal profession. His road will be more challenging than that of a boy from private school, she says. | May asks her audience to imagine a working-class boy at a state school who aspires to make it in the legal profession. His road will be more challenging than that of a boy from private school, she says. |
| May says that working class boy from Derby who wants to become lawyer has odds stacked against him, quoting over representation of privately educated in top universities. | May says that working class boy from Derby who wants to become lawyer has odds stacked against him, quoting over representation of privately educated in top universities. |