Cable examines proposal to pay students to go to university
SIR VINCE CABLE is considering a plan to pay students to go to university when he is made Liberal Democrat leader next week, sources have said.
Sir Vince is set to be crowned Lib Dem leader on Wednesday evening, replacing Tim Farron, who yesterday disclosed that he decided to quit as party leader two weeks into the General Election campaign.
The Daily Telegraph understands that one of Sir Vince’s ideas is the possibility of following the example of Wales by giving all university students in England at least £1,000 a year to study.
The Welsh government has unveiled a shake-up of its financial support for students, which will see them handed a means-tested grant of at least £1,000 to cover living costs, and the introduction of an expanded loan system to cover tuition fees.
The new grants will entitle every student to support equivalent to the National Living Wage, with those from an average income family eligible to receive £7,000 a year in non-repayable grant. Sources said that Sir Vince was sympathetic to a similar scheme being rolled out in England.
A spokesman for Sir Vince said: “Vince thinks there should be a revision to the scheme and that some form of grant is necessary.” Sir Vince is currently the only candidate in the race to be the next Lib Dem leader, and he has been backed by all of the party’s other 10 MPS – apart from Mr Farron, who has remained neutral.
Sir Vince only has to secure formally the support of 200 Lib Dem members in not less than 20 local parties to win the leadership.
Mr Farron is due to stand down as leader at the end of next week. In an interview with Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5, he said he had made his decision to quit as leader in the heat of the election campaign amid repeated questioning over his religious beliefs.
“I made the decision about two weeks into the election campaign,” he said. “I thought there isn’t a way forward out of this without me either compromising or just causing damage to the party in the long run.”
Elsewhere, former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg reportedly admitted that members of his own family had “stridently voted” for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.