Parties on campaign trail in Oldham East and Saddleworth as Lib Dem leader tries to link Woolas case to opposition's record
Nick Clegg today moved to defuse the tuition fee controversy that threatens to destroy Liberal Democrat hopes of a byelection triumph in Oldham East and Saddleworth when he told the constituency's voters that most graduates will either pay less than they do now under the coalition's reforms, or not be required to pay off their entire loan.
On a flying visit to the Lancashire three-way marginal, which has been won by all three parties in the past 20 years, the deputy prime minister combined a positive message about the coalition's help for children, students and pensioners with repeated attacks on Labour's record under Gordon Brown and "under the duvet" evasion since Ed Miliband became leader.
Admitting it is proving hard to get the tuition fees message across after last month's student protests, Clegg said the "paradox" was that though fees will go up – to £9,000 a year at top universities – "as more young people look at the scheme, they will realise that it will be cheaper and easier to go to university than it is now," especially for "bright kids from poor families".
He said that a social care worker on £21,000 a year, on an average career path, would pay back £7 a month, compared with £80 under Labour's current scheme. "A majority of graduates will not pay back all their loans," he told voters in meetings and media exchanges. Three students protesting against the policy in Shaw, near Oldham, later complained that at least one young woman, Jennifer Leah, had been manhandled by party activists.
In interviews, Clegg repeatedly linked former MP Phil Woolas's ejection from parliament after he was found to have lied about Lib Dem rival Elwyn Watkins to Labour's economic record. He said Labour had "robbed" Britain of billions, just as the local MP had "robbed" voters of a fair election. Labour won the seat by just 103 votes, only to lose in court.
Denouncing the "outrageous" behaviour – for which neither Woolas nor Labour have apologised, he said – Clegg accused the former MP of having been found guilty of "lying his way through the campaign and of stoking up racial tensions," a reference to the legacy of three days of riots in 2001. Labour is certain to dispute that description.
In what amounted to an admission that the probable winner of the 13 January contest will be either Labour's Debbie Abrahams or Elwyn Watkins, Clegg also attacked the post-Brown leadership of Ed Miliband for both failing to accept blame for the economic crisis, and ducking hard decisions about what to do next.
"This is the wrong time for indecision. This is the wrong time to duck tough choices and I think the people here deserve more than a blank sheet of paper from Labour. They deserve answers and what we are doing, the Liberal Democrats, is rolling up our sleeves to sort out the mess we have inherited from Labour to provide a better future for people here and indeed the rest of the country," Clegg said.
Miliband has also paid two visits so far to the constituency, and David Cameron is expected later this week. Health secretary Andrew Lansley, who has been criticised for downgrading plans to improve a local health centre, campaigned today.
Among the smaller parties – there are 10 candidates in all – both Nigel Farage, leader of Ukip, and the BNP's Nick Griffin have also been active. Today Farage distinguished between the BNP and his party, which wants to control immigration – patriotic but not extreme, he said. The byelection provided a chance to "send the BNP to destruction".