Graduates should repay loans, say Labour

Graduates should repay a proportion of their tuitionfees to help meet the cost of higher education, Labour was told yesterday. Baroness Tessa Blackstone, a Labour foreign affairs spokeswoman in the Lords, told a London conference that students should pay back 20 per cent of their fees. The vice-chancellors' leader, Professor Gareth Roberts, said Labour would be unable to fund higher education properly unless it insisted on loans for a portion of tuition fees.

To the dismay of some of its own supporters, Labour announced last month that it would abolish grants for living costs and offer students loans. Judith Judd