Amy Kitcher makes pledge to students on University Fees

12.00.00pm GMT Thu 25th Feb 2010

Amy Kitcher today signed a pledge to students ahead of the forthcoming general election that she will vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has launched the Vote for Students campaign to encourage candidates to pledge to protect student interests by opposing attempts to lift the cap on student top-up fees.

The Vote for Students funding pledge states:

"I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament, and will put pressure on the Government to introduce a fairer alternative."

Amy Kitcher said:

"For those young people leaving school, university is getting more and more expensive. To get a degree, young people are saddled with thousands of pounds of debt when it is tough enough to get a job, get on the housing ladder and make ends meet.

"Liberal Democrats are the only party which believes university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost."

NUS President Wes Streeting said:

"The vast majority of the general public is against higher fees, and although this review has been set up to report after the general election, voters deserve to know where their MP stands on this highly emotive issue.

"I am delighted that Amy Kitcher is standing up for students and their families in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney by signing up to this pledge. She has demonstrated her determination to give every young person in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney a fair chance to go to university."

Students at Cardiff University are opposed to tuition fees

A recent YouGov poll commissioned by NUS revealed that 88% of the public does not think the review should even consider increasing fees, while a majority believes that it should look at alternatives. Last year, research by Opinionpanel showed that a political party's position on tuition fees would affect how 79% of students would vote in a general election.