JEREMY Corbyn provoked more fierce criticism last night as he turned his back on moves to shelve a proposal to scrap university tuition fees.
It was the latest climbdown by the new Labour chief on yet another major policy, and follows previous U-turns on getting his party to reject the renewal of
Trident, oppose air strikes against Daesh targets in Syria and campaign to take the UK out of Europe.
His pledge to abolish tuition fees was his first major policy statement during his leadership bid and boosted his support among students and young people which helped him achieve his astounding victory in the leadership election. But it emerged last night the pledge is being shelved while he consults with the rest of his party.
“It’s like everything else from Jeremy’s leadership campaign, it doesn’t automatically become policy,” a shadow Cabinet source said.
The development was met with derision in Scotland where the new Labour chief had spent the day on his first visit north of the Border since his triumph in the summer leadership election.
“Very many students and young people supported Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign to be Labour leader as they strongly supported his policies on scrapping tuition fees and also believed he would bring fairness and freshness back into politics,” said Gary Paterson, vice president (communities) of the National Union of Students in Scotland.
“If the result of this review is that Labour policy will not be to scrap tuition fees after all, very many people will be disappointed by the Labour Party.
“So many people have put hope back into the party during Corbyn’s leadership campaign, but if that doesn’t result in tangible policy differences a lot of people will feel very let down and will continue to look elsewhere for change.”
The SNP said that the development revealed how “divided and unelectable” Labour are and followed a BBC interview earlier yesterday when he admitted his party may go into next year’s Holyrood elections without a clear position on Trident.
“The idea that Labour could go into next year’s elections without a clear position on Trident sums up how divided and unelectable the party are,” said SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie.
“And on tuition fees, Mr Corbyn now looks set to follow a long line of Labour leaders who have broken their promises to students, despite personally apologising to students during his leadership campaign for Labour introducing fees. Jeremy Corbyn was elected on a number of key policy pledges, scrapping Trident, scrapping tuition fees and opposing Tory austerity, but within a matter of weeks he has rowed back on all of these.
“Indeed, this climb-down on tuition fees is yet more evidence that Labour is changing Jeremy Corbyn, not the other way around.”
The new Labour chief said only weeks ago he would raise £10bn through higher taxes in order to remove fees and restore student grants.
Announcing his intention to scrap fees, which can be as much as £9,000 a year, he said the policy would be funded by either a 2.5 per cent rise in corporation tax or a seven per cent rise increase in National Insurance for those earning more than £50,000 a year.
Corbyn said during the summer that he wanted to apologise on behalf of Labour to the last generation of students who had to pay fees.
As well as Trident and the EU, he has abandoned plans to nationalise the “big six” energy companies, another highlight of his summer campaign.
John McDonnell, the new Shadow Chancellor, has promised that he will cut the deficit, even if his methods would be different to those of the current government and sign up to the Chancellor’s fiscal charter, a move which prompting accusations that he was not committed to fighting austerity.
But yesterday, in one of the few interviews Corbyn gave, he told the Press Association in Scotland that Labour, unlike the SNP, has a “real commitment to fighting austerity”.
With opinion polls showing the SNP well ahead in the run-up to next year’s Holyrood elections, he said the party was focusing on that vote as it attempts to rebuild.
Corbyn said his anti-austerity stance should appeal to voters.
“The Labour Party membership in Scotland is the biggest it has been for many, many, many years.” he said. “I’m not going to make any wild predictions, but we’re going to do lot of campaigning and point out what really matters to people is housing, is education, jobs, opportunities, and opposing what the Tories are doing in the Welfare Reform Bill, and doing our best to get sufficient powers to the Scottish Parliament to try to reduce the impact of the disastrous Welfare Reform Bill on the people of Scotland, that’s our function, that’s our purpose.”
During the interview he failed to say whether he agreed with Scottish party leader Kezia Dugdale that Labour members who believe in independence can campaign on the issue in the event of another referendum.
The National View: Why Corbyn is just another Labour hero set up to fail
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