| Razor Thin |
2 February 2004
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Prime Minister Blair Wins Key Ballot by 5 Votes
Her Majesty's Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, MP, PC has certainly made a mess of his university fee reform plan. There is no other way to explain a majority of 161 falling to just 5 on such a significant issue. Mr. Blair would do well to re-read his election manifesto, wherein he promised he would not introduce fees. If he isn't careful, next time the vote will be 316-311 against, nor for, him -- and a general election will be needed.
At the heart of the controversy is the funding of British Universities, which even under the expensive Blairite system, remain a huge bargain both for the student and society. Mr. Blair's plan is to charge students a maximum 3,000 a year payable when they start earning 15,000 a year and capped at 9% of earnings per year. Remembering that English universities usually offer a three-year course of study, that works out to be 9,000 for a bachelor's degree -- most Americans would consider this a deal and a half.
The cost, though, is not what has generated the rebellion. In his election manifesto [platform in American], Mr. Blair said, "We will not introduce ‘top-up’ fees and have legislated to prevent them." [Labour Manifesto, 2001, p.20]. Call it what one will, the new charge will be a fee, "top up" or otherwise. Kate Hoey, MP, and former Labour minister said, "we haven't actually kept the manifesto commitment." She's right.
It would seem that certain members of the Labour party place keeping election promises ahead of pleasing the PM, enough to shave his majority to 5. If just 3 had voted differently, Mr. Blair's proposal would have died. What is troublesome is that Mr. Blair has reached this sorry state. Love him or hate him, the Prime Minister hasn't fumbled an issue this badly in his tenure at 10 Downing Street. Still, as Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told BBC News 24, "I don't think it's been handled very well -- a 160-odd majority and scrambling around to get a few to come into the vote." The blood is in the water; the sharks won't be long in coming.
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