Reading Liberal Democrats

There is now less than eight months to save a new generation of young people from huge increases in university tuition fees, according to Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Reading East, Cllr Gareth Epps.

Gareth was speaking at a cross-party debate organised by Reading University Liberal Democrats on Thursday (15 October) on campus. The remarks come after the Conservatives suggested last week they will increase tuition fees to £7,000 if they take power at the next general election, which has to be held by next June.

That will see tuition fees for undergraduates more than double. Currently there is a cap of £3,300 in England and Wales. Peter Mandelson has already suggested that Labour will allow universities to charge more than at present if re-elected – though both Labour and the Tories are sheltering behind a proposed review of fees, too scared to push through the changes they want before June.

Only the Liberal Democrats will scrap tuition fees. The party believes university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go – and not be put off by the cost.

Reading University’s Liberal Democrats – the biggest and most active political group on campus – compiled a “Debtbusters” video which was launched at the debate. Interviews with 100 randomly selected students at the University showed a total debt of £1,525,700.

Gareth says: “I look around Reading and I see and meet people returning from university with no job and a bank balance tens of thousands of pounds in the red. What sort of message is that?

Rob Wilson was personally responsible for ending the Conservatives’ brief commitment to free tuition. The choice is clear: the people of Reading East can vote for a politician who will condemn a generation of youngsters or for the Liberal Democrats who will make education free again, giving young people the best possible start.”

Cllr Prue Bray, Liberal Democrat candidate for Wokingham constituency which covers half of the University campus, says:
“Labour and now the Tories are showing their true colours. They want to saddle them with staggering amounts of debt. One of the Conservative MPs serving Reading University, John Redwood has long been in favour of increasing tuition fees. I have challenged him to make clear his and his party’s views on student finance to his electorate.”

Mark Whiley, President of Reading University Liberal Democrats, commented:-
“Last week we organised a well-attended cross-party debate on Higher Education Funding with both Gareth Epps and Anneliese Dodds. From those attending it is clear there is still only one party that is committed to giving the choice of a University education based upon acumen and skills, rather than the ability to pay.

Labour and the Conservatives continue to support the broken tuition fees system and bow down to pressures from University bodies to increase the tuition cap – seeing students get into deeper debt isn’t considered an issue for them. The Tories left an empty chair for the debate, so shallow is their vision for students.

Selling off the Student Loans Portfolio to private firms or more than doubling the cap to £7,000 will bring young people into even larger sums of debt than the present average of £20,000 per student. You can only change this by voting Liberal Democrat.”

Editor’s Notes:-

Cllr Daisy Benson and the Reading Lib Dems have launched a campaign in conjunction with Reading University Students Union to encourage more students to register to vote in time for the local elections in May.

Daisy will be pressing the Deputy Leader of the Council at a meeting of the Council on Tuesday to do more to get students onto the electoral roll.

The Lib Dems will also be going door to door in the University area to remind students that they CAN vote in local elections in Reading (even if they are registered at home)

Daisy said:

“The number of Reading students who register to vote is still too low. The Council must do more to encourage students to register.

“Students sometimes forget to re-register when they leave halls and move into student houses off campus.”

“Students living out use local services just like other residents and it is vital that their voices are heard. They have until 11 April to register in time for the May elections.

Issues like recycling, bus services, streetlighting and policing really matter to students living in Reading and this is their chance to vote for more progressive policies and influence the Council’s decisions”

Sally Pearman, President of Reading University Student’s Union said:

“Many students are dealing with a lot of responsibility for the first time. The Council should be making the election process as easy as possible and using innovative campaigns to get more students voting.“

“If our Council does not engage these young minds then they will become increasingly marginalised in our community as local politicians won’t consider their unique perspective.”

Editor’s Notes –

• Residents have until 11 April to register for May’s local elections
• Daisy will be asking her question on at a Council meeting at the Civic Centre on Tuesday 29 January at 6.30pm
• A recent report by Reading Borough Council showed that voter registration in student areas of Reading is significantly lower than the rest of town
• The St Lukes Church (Erleigh Road area) polling station in Redlands has a registration rate of 69.5% (the Reading Borough average is 80.68%)
• This is the third year running the Lib Dems have run a ‘door to door’ campaign to encourage voter registration in Reading

Students and Liberal Democrats expressed dismay last night after Labour and Tory councillors on Reading Borough Council poured scorn on a petition submitted by Reading University students calling for a polling station on campus. The Liberal Democrat group backed the petition.

Cllr Gareth Epps who introduced an amendment to the Council’s Polling Station Review, calling for the 1000-plus students in the halls on campus (in Church ward) to be able to vote at a campus polling station, said:

“Labour and Tory Councillors have demonstrated a shameful disregard for Reading students. Hundreds of students signed the petition, which was fully supported by Reading University Student Union.

“All they had to offer in return were cheap anti-student jibes and comments that were ignorant. With the future of the current polling station building in some doubt, it is crazy to rule out an obvious option now.”

Cllr Daisy Benson said:

“I have campaigned to give students a voice on issues affecting them in Reading. What kind of message do the Labour and Tory rejection of their petition send out to students living in the town? We will continue to campaign on issues that matter to students – even if the other parties won’t.”

Editor’s Note -

The current polling station used by students living in Halls on the Reading University campus (Reading Borough side), the Scout hall at Northcourt Avenue (Church ward), is potentially the subject of considerable development speculation.

RUSU President, Sally Pearman: 07973503401
Cllr Gareth Epps: 07950035836

Reading East’s Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner Gareth Epps is launching a campaign for Reading University’s halls of residence to be able to vote on campus, as part of an ongoing review of polling stations for which consultation is drawing to a close.

Currently, students in Halls have to trek across campus to polling stations up to almost a mile away in Reading and Earley.

The campus is split between Reading and Wokingham boroughs, and between the Reading East and Wokingham constituencies. Garethhas made a submission calling for students in Halls of Residence on the University campus, and possibly some adjoining residents in Church ward, to vote on the university premises. The Lib Dems say the measure would encourage voter turnout, particularly for younger voters.

Reading University’s Student Union has also called for the change which would follow universities such as Bath and York, both of which have introduced campus polling stations in recent years.

Liberal Democrat councillors for Redlands, Daisy Benson and Kirsten Bayes, have also asked for changes so residents in the Morgan Road/Allcroft Road area can travel less far to vote. Currently most of these residents vote at Hexham Road, up and down a hill and almost a mile away.

Gareth says: “Currently, more than a thousand Reading students are supposed to go to the far end of Northcourt Avenue to vote. This is almost a mile away for some of them living at the far end of Upper Redlands Road.”

He added “This hardly encourages young people to take part in the processes that affect them. The same issue affects students on the other side of the campus split across the administrative boundary – which splits one Halls building in two and is itself ripe for review.

To have a polling station on campus would help not just students but some residents in the University area. It would help increase voter turnout and wouldconnect Reading students with the town of which they are very much a part.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Wokingham, Prue Bray, added, “There are a lot of students both in halls and in shared houses living around the University and it would make sense to have a polling station on campus. The Lib Dem Council Group at Wokingham is recommending this idea to Wokingham Borough Council.”

Commenting on the proposed changes for residents in the Morgan Road/Allcroft Road area, CllrDaisy Benson says: “The polling station review is a good opportunity to get right some problems and encourage more people to vote. It isn’t right to ask people living in Morgan Road, some of whom are elderly, to walk up a hill and travel so far. There are better solutions.”

Editor’s Note:
The review of polling places has been called for by central Government. All councils are to report by 31 December. The Reading Borough Council consulation ended on 7 September. Wokingham Borough’s consultation is due to conclude on 1 October.