Fair Fees

Stung by public vilification over their U-turn on student fees, the Lib Dems are executing a dismal dance in which Mr Cable and the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, actually seem to be considering abstaining on a policy they were responsible for shaping.

It is in response to their discomfort that the coalition Government is proposing changes which would further ease the path to university for poorer students by having the state pay up to two years of their tuition fees.

Whether or not this gets the Lib Dems out of the hole they have dug for themselves, it should certainly ease public opposition to the policy. Any proposed legislation must help secure the future of universities and extend the fair principle that students pay for the benefits they receive from higher education while ensuring that those from poorer families are not penalised, but also must not leave the burden to fall mainly on the already-stretched middle class.

The unfair situation where Scottish and Welsh students are treated differently must also be tackled. The only question now is whether Mr Clegg and Mr Cable can find the courage to explain this to their recalcitrant backbenchers and inquire of them whether they are prepared to make the compromises necessary for the inevitably messy business of governing, or whether they would prefer to keep their principles unsullied and accept the political irrelevance of opposition.