More than 100 activists warn Nick Clegg to switch policy and oppose rises – or risk sending party back to 'political wilderness'
More than 100 Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates have petitioned Nick Clegg to oppose government plans to raise tuition fees in England to avoid pushing the party "back in the political wilderness".
Pressure is mounting on Lib Dem MPs as Downing Street and Tory ministers demand Lib Dem ministers back the plans to treble tuition fees. Meanwhile, Simon Hughes, the deputy Lib Dem leader, is understood to be pressing for a collective abstention by all 57 MPs when they vote on the issue before Christmas.
Today, 104 Lib Dem election candidates urged Clegg, the deputy prime minister, Vince Cable, the business secretary, and the parliamentary party as a whole to uphold the party's "integrity and values" by voting against plans to allow fees of up to £9,000 a year.
In an open letter to elected MPs, the activists reminded the party leader of his general election attack on the "broken promises" of both Labour and Conservative governments and his claim, during the televised debates, that the Liberal Democrats were "different" and wanted to shape a "new politics".
The letter, headlined "No to tuition fees, yes to Liberal Democrat integrity", said a pledge with the National Union of Students that Lib Dems would vote against any tuition fee rises during the course of the next parliament had clearly indicated that this would be unconditional "regardless of whether the party was in government or in opposition".
The letter, posted on the website of Derek Deedman, a Lib Dem candidate and councillor, states: "The party has been very clear for many years about its view on tuition fees and that we feel they should be abolished. However after the recent publication of the Browne review into university funding it now seems entirely likely that although tuition fees will be capped this will be done to an unacceptable level of somewhere between £9,000-£9,500 per year with almost all courses costing at least £6,000 per year.
"Stopping this from happening is vitally important. Not just for the benefit of students but also for the Liberal Democrats. There is one thing that sets the Liberal Democrats apart from other political parties; this is that when we say we will do something during election campaigns we then do it in government."
It goes on: "We are different and must show that we are; especially now that we are in a position to do so. Otherwise this party will rightly face many more years back in the political wilderness having been labelled as 'just like the other lot'. So are these savings of £2.9bn worth it? Is this price worth the loss of our party's integrity and our values? If not then we must let the leadership know how we feel and stop these fees from rising while we still can."
There are fears in Lib Dem circles that the tuition fees issue could seriously damage the party and become the equivalent of the damage done to Labour among middle-class voters over the Iraq war.
A YouGov poll in yesterday's Sunday Times put the Lib Dems on just 9%, with Nick Clegg's personal approval rating having fallen to minus 22, down from minus 13 a week ago and by far his lowest ever score as leader.