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Should paying student fees upfront be banned?

One big test for any reform to higher education funding is whether students should be allowed to pay fees upfront. It exposes the political divide over how progressive the system should be. Here are...

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A tale of two pledges and one Lib Dem humiliation

There were two important “read my lips” moments in the election campaign. One was Clegg’s pledge to oppose a rise in tuition fees. The other was Cameron’s “contract” with the electorate on pensioner...

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OBR: tax avoidance clampdown will make no difference

Here’s another example of the OBR shrugging its shoulders at coalition policy. The Office of Budget Responsibility reviews the Lib Dem-backed crackdown on tax avoidance and concludes that it will have...

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Will Clegg bravely sit on fence over tuition fees?

If you asked a Lib Dem MP whether they would abstain on tuition fees given a free vote, the answer would almost certainly be no. Most of them have very strong views on the matter. Vince Cable just...

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Vince blows the gaff and pledges to vote for the tuition fee rise

The prospect of all Lib Dem MPs — including Clegg and Cable — abstaining on the tuition fee rise never did seem likely. Well, Vince Cable has consigned the idea to the dustbin, saying he’ll vote for a...

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Lib Dem peers keep the world waiting

It seems as if the tension may be getting to some Liberal Democrats. I just called Lady Sharp, who is – it transpires – the party’s higher education spokeswoman in the House of Lords. Sharp is quoted...

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Lord Oakeshott isn’t going anywhere

We were speculating only yesterday afternoon just how irritating George Osborne must find it to have a so-called “Lib Dem Treasury spokesman” criticising the Treasury and the banks week in, week out....

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Lib Dems still arguing over plans for “son of mansion tax”

Allegra Stratton at the Guardian set the ball rolling yesterday on whether the Lib Dems are planning a new type of mansion tax – albeit under a different name. The proposal is being kicked around by...

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Can the Greens capture disaffected Lib Dems?

Parliament isn’t even in recess yet but already party conference season has begun. Today, the Green party gathers in Sheffield for its annual get together. Why Sheffield? Possibly because it’s the...

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Live: Osborne’s Autumn Statement

Welcome to our rolling coverage of the Autumn Statement. George Osborne has missed his fiscal targets and cut corporation tax. We’ll bring you all the day’s developments live. By Tom Burgis and Ben...

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Simon Hughes: acquiring a taste for rebellion?

I only ask because it was Hughes who first gave a hint two weeks ago that there might be a Lib Dem amendment to the finance bill – only to then retract. A couple of days later Andrew George put forward...

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Public support for AV is nosediving

The fledgling “yes” campaign for AV says it is too early to make premature judgments. The Electoral Reform Society, for example, says that polls will inevitably jump around given that the formal...

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Labour’s uncertain attitude to Vince Cable

Labour is in something of a dilemma about how to deal with the Lib Dems. On the one hand, it is an easy attack to claim they betrayed their voters by doing a deal with the Tories and to portray the...

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No Lib-Con electoral pact says Simon Hughes

It is hard to know sometimes whether Simon Hughes is playing a fiendishly complex strategic game in order to leverage anti-Tory forces within his own Liberal Democrat party and thus enhance his own...

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Top Ten Lib Dem Conference Moments Ever

1. Conference resolves to ban goldfish prizes at fairs The purest expression of Lib Dem eccentricity. The 1992 conference had a serious downer on fairground animals. Some still claim it is a myth...

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