Nick Clegg's apology

[Mr_T]

No, tuition fees needed to go up if only to maintain the usefulness of degrees. If every joe smith has one, they are meaningless.

That's all very well for you to say, but the thing is your not the one who has to deal with it. A degree is something that is an absolute necessity if you want what many would consider a decent standard of living, one of my teachers told me the other day that the average annual wage without a degree is about £18000... Tripling the fees to £27000 affects everyone, I'm lucky enough that I should be able to afford to go to university, however I will be in debt for a long time after I've finished university, but I know so many people, many of whom got A*s in their gcses, who will not be going not because they are not clever enough, but because they simply cannot afford it, is that fair? There opportunities in life are immediately limited by their wealth, not their ability and intelligence, thats what angers me the most, the fact that so many good, hardworking and honest people won't get the opportunities they deserve. Its also the fact that they are projecting a message that being in a lot of debt is just a natural part of modern society and that its something that young people like myself are just going to have to accept. Nick Clegg is a first class tool, I said some really positive things about him before the last election, with the exception of a certain Mr Cameron, I can't think of many people in politics that I dislike more now.

 

[Imurg]

Around here the LD's are always banging on about it being a traight fight between them and the Tories as Labour voters are as rare as Rocking Horse poo...
"Vote LD and keep the Tories out" was the Battle cry.
So I did
But they didn't keep the Tories out - they joined forces purely to get into power. There's no way they'd have got there any other way.
Now they can't do what they want to do, what they promised to do - and we're supposed to just forgive him and vote for him again next time?
Watch the LD vote dwindle to almost nothing at the next election......

 

[chrisd]

That's all very well for you to say, but the thing is your not the one who has to deal with it. A degree is something that is an absolute necessity if you want what many would consider a decent standard of living, one of my teachers told me the other day that the average annual wage without a degree is about £18000... Tripling the fees to £27000 affects everyone, I'm lucky enough that I should be able to afford to go to university, however I will be in debt for a long time after I've finished university, but I know so many people, many of whom got A*s in their gcses, who will not be going not because they are not clever enough, but because they simply cannot afford it, is that fair? There opportunities in life are immediately limited by their wealth, not their ability and intelligence, thats what angers me the most, the fact that so many good, hardworking and honest people won't get the opportunities they deserve. Its also the fact that they are projecting a message that being in a lot of debt is just a natural part of modern society and that its something that young people like myself are just going to have to accept. Nick Clegg is a first class tool, I said some really positive things about him before the last election, with the exception of a certain Mr Cameron, I can't think of many people in politics that I dislike more now.

If university was only open to the top percentage of school leavers as it used to be, then it could be funded by the tax payer, but, if all leavers are to go there then it is only possible if it is funded by those taking advantage of it. It was easy for Clegg to make bland election manifesto promises as he never expected a coalition and the expectation that he would be called to account for those promises. Back in the 60's, 70's etc youngsters had proper apprenticeships lasting around 4 years where they would be properly trained in a trade and they are the ones that end up now going to university and take meaningless 3rd rate degrees on the false pretence that the job will be better at the end with more money - sad because there has been a dearth of good bricklayers, plumbers and electricians etc in recent years just because schools are pursuaded to lie to many young people and stop them leaving school and going into a trade, for some reason they are now second class - believe me, we will need skilled people in the trades when the recession ends.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Once Clegg got a sniff of a coalition he knew this was his chance to get his head in the overflowing trough.

He gets a job made just for him and gets his old pal Vince Cable in there aswell.

Is there really any need for a Prime Minister?

Disgraceful.

 

[Mr_T]

If university was only open to the top percentage of school leavers as it used to be, then it could be funded by the tax payer, but, if all leavers are to go there then it is only possible if it is funded by those taking advantage of it. It was easy for Clegg to make bland election manifesto promises as he never expected a coalition and the expectation that he would be called to account for those promises. Back in the 60's, 70's etc youngsters had proper apprenticeships lasting around 4 years where they would be properly trained in a trade and they are the ones that end up now going to university and take meaningless 3rd rate degrees on the false pretence that the job will be better at the end with more money - sad because there has been a dearth of good bricklayers, plumbers and electricians etc in recent years just because schools are pursuaded to lie to many young people and stop them leaving school and going into a trade, for some reason they are now second class - believe me, we will need skilled people in the trades when the recession ends.

I didn't have a problem with the fees increasing as we had to find cuts, but tripling the fees was way too much, even doubling it wouldn't have been truly awful, the other problem was, people don't have time to save, if you have a child now, at least you can plan to try and save to help with those fees, but people simply cannot prepare for that kind of increase at such short notice, i also agree that there are many frankly silly degrees, but as a whole, having a degree makes your opportunities to get jobs and earn higher the national average much better

 

[DappaDonDave]

That's all very well for you to say, but the thing is your not the one who has to deal with it. A degree is something that is an absolute necessity if you want what many would consider a decent standard of living, one of my teachers told me the other day that the average annual wage without a degree is about £18000... Tripling the fees to £27000 affects everyone, I'm lucky enough that I should be able to afford to go to university, however I will be in debt for a long time after I've finished university, but I know so many people, many of whom got A*s in their gcses, who will not be going not because they are not clever enough, but because they simply cannot afford it, is that fair? There opportunities in life are immediately limited by their wealth, not their ability and intelligence, thats what angers me the most, the fact that so many good, hardworking and honest people won't get the opportunities they deserve. Its also the fact that they are projecting a message that being in a lot of debt is just a natural part of modern society and that its something that young people like myself are just going to have to accept. Nick Clegg is a first class tool, I said some really positive things about him before the last election, with the exception of a certain Mr Cameron, I can't think of many people in politics that I dislike more now.

Mr.T,

Let me just get a couple of things straight for you. I'm 24, and I've never been to uni. I got an apprenticeship at 19 and got two qualifications through that programme. I've since gone on to study in my desired profession and gained higher level qualifications. I have colleagues with degrees who are less able and I have friends with degrees most of which work in aldi, tesco or are jobless.

Increasing tuition fees will lead to more debt, therefore putting off some people who only went for the experience, I.e, the party lifestyle. It may also put some people off who are unble to afford it but that's collateral damage. I don't know anyone who saved up £9k to pay for their fees, so they wouldn't have saved £27k either.

So before making an assumption that I'm someone who doesn't have to deal with it, it'd be much appreciated that you don't assume I'm a retiree who is loaded!

Love

DDD