Should pension tax relief be cut to fund reduced university fees?

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Ed Miliband has announced that if they are elected, his government will cut university tuition fees by £3,000 per annum from the current £9,000 charged to students.

Labour is set to stage a raid on pension tax relief to fund a cut in student tuition fees to £6,000 a year.

Critics have said it will only help better off students and many universities have said they will have to apply to the government for more funding. The extra cost to the government would be about £2.7 billion and Labour have announced that this will come from extra taxes on wealthier people saving for their pensions.  It will do this by cutting back the amount people are able to pay annually and during their lifetime into their pension and still qualify for tax relief.

For Silversurfers higher education used to be free and Labour actually introduced university tuition fees in 2001 and then increased them in 2005. Since then the current coalition have increased them to £9,000. While there were worries that poorer students would stop going to university this has proved unfounded with more students at university than ever before.

What do you think? Should university fees be cut by £3,000 per annum with the amount paid by with extra taxes on the wealthy saving for pensions?

Should pension tax relief be cut to fund reduced university fees?

497 people have already voted, what's your opinion? Yes No

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nagonthenet
22nd Apr 2015
0
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University should be free BUT not for as many students. That is unsustainable. Many courses are not up to standard. There are not enough graduate jobs for all the "graduates" and these young peoples lives are being wasted whilst they are burdening themselves with debt.
cheshiredolphin
6th Mar 2015
2
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There should be NO tuition fees for our students. They are our 'seed corn' and we should ensure they have the best start possible. Burdening them with debt before they have stepped on the working ladder is ridiculous.
However foreign students who wish to be educated here should pay, as UK students wishing to be educated abroad have to.
There are many alternative ways of funding Universities.
Archiebald
6th Mar 2015
2
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Totally agree with this. education for UK students should be free...especially for less well off kids
kate.withers
5th Mar 2015
3
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I have voted yes because this will only affect those who are extremely rich and pay in probably four times the annual salary I earned whilst working. It will not affect the average person.
little owl
4th Mar 2015
4
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Pensioners now have lived through paying 18% interest rates and many other desperate times but now when they need it interest on their savings is almost non existant. They have lived through the aftermath of WWII an through all the instability since then and genuinely paid their way. Younger people now should look back on their childhood and remember who paid for everything they have now. Grandchildren laugh and simply don't believe how people had to live but we overcame that to build a better future for everybody not just ourselves. As I never went hungry, never cold or uneducated I consider I lived a privileged childhood but I went to school with a majority less fortunate. It is time people talked about our life instead of my life and were more understanding of others as greed is now playing a very big part in this country.
Royace
4th Mar 2015
3
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Another ploy to try and get more votes at the General Election in May. Gordon Brown raided my pension pot, thank you Gordon ! Their all running out of ideas, can't trust any of them. Vote UKIP, you know it makes sense, we need a breath of fresh air and someone who will stand up for us Brits.
harrydd
4th Mar 2015
6
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I don't agree that these cuts should be introduced. Why do students in England have to pay £9000 per year while students in Scotland get it FREE? It is disgusting that English tax payers contribute to the free univesity for others, yet students in England still have to pay exorbitant fees!! Again it's a case of one rule for one and one for another! I feel that English - tax paying - families are being ripped off yet again with regard to these student fees!!
HJR58
4th Mar 2015
8
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What they should do is to give proper grants to students from poorer backgrounds. Most people I know have spent significant amounts of money supporting their offspring through university. Students have their whole lives ahead of them to repay what over a working lifetime is a small debt. If high fees put people off doing ' Mickey Mouse' degrees which have little chance of providing a career, then so much the better! Pensioners should not be paying for student debt relief!
oldandgrumpy
4th Mar 2015
5
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Why should people that by and large worked all their lives, paid all their taxes be hit in retirement. Quite the contrary the UK has the lowest pension payment in western Europe, even migrants to the UK fare better than pensioners. If anything we should be campaigning for a better deal
Archiebald
4th Mar 2015
4
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I totally agree with this. We have contributed all our lives why do we have to pay even more now?
Tom Sharp
3rd Mar 2015
4
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I seem to remember the idea was for £6000 tuition fees for all apart from £9000 for the very top few universities. All of a sudden they all wanted , and got 9 grand! I think they should take away their tax free charity status!
judyap
2nd Mar 2015
4
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We are told that this plan only applies to "wealthy pensioners" but what is meant by wealthy? One person on radio WM ,recently suggested that being wealthy meant having £2000 in the bank! That wouldnt last very long!
Peter
2nd Mar 2015
4
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This is another ridiculous Miliband policy that Ed Balls and most of the rest of his shadow cabinet don't agree with. Why penalise pensioners further to fund a change that has been proven to disadvantage poorer students - its nonsensical. This is yet another election gimic driven by a hopeless leader. Labour would be better off without him.
minty
6th Mar 2015
0
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Boy do I agree Peter !!
countrylass
1st Mar 2015
6
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It depends what they are studying at uni; if it's a useful subject like a science (maths, physics, medicine, law, engineering etc, ) that's good, but if they are studying 'travel' 'media studies' etc. ...
go fund yourselves. Which subjects are most likely to lead to employment, and which arenot. We need to have more apprenticeships for young people to learn a trade when they leave school. Instead of being on the dole, work with a skilled tradesman and learn something.
Archiebald
1st Mar 2015
5
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Totally agree with your comments but think a lot of jobs that were apprentaships are now becoming mechanised e.g. Carpenters...but I did hear there is a lack of skilled plumbers so this is a great trade. Our plumber who just retired at 65 was never every short of work!
Jo Kingham
2nd Mar 2015
4
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I agree - we should reduce fees for those looking to enter professions we have a shortage of. I also think we've gone slightly university mad. In my day hardly anyone went to university - unless they wanted to be a doctor etc. We all learnt on the job, through youth trainings schemes £40 a week if I recall and worked our way up the career ladders whilst earning a few pennies along the way - no debt that way!
Tom Sharp
3rd Mar 2015
2
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I remember an old one. In New York a plumber handing his exorbitant bill to a customer was met with a gasp followed by. "BBB But my ddoctor doesn't charge that much"! "I know. I once was a doctor" came the reply!
Archiebald
1st Mar 2015
4
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I do think its bad that students have to pay £9,000 per year for their tuition and no matter what the government say this must put off some poorer students. When I was lucky enough to go to higher education my parents were very poor and I was actually given a grant to go. If it had not been for that I would have been straight out at work full time. I still had to work all the time during this period anyway to make ends meet

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