Labour hinting at major policy announcement on University tuition fees

LABOUR has given its clearest indication it will promise to scrap or significantly reform university tuition fees in its General Election manifesto.

Asked about the party’s plans for tuition fees, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said she “didn’t want to give too much of the manifesto away” on a day when Labour was focusing on its plans to spend billions boosting schools and further education, funded by a tax hike for businesses.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed he is carrying “some stuff in my pocket” on university tuition fees but said the plans would be revealed in the party’s manifesto next week.

It came after Ms Rayner said voters should “watch this space” when asked if Labour will pledge to scrap fees in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The comments came as Labour announced plans to fund a major increase in education spending by hiking corporation tax.

The plans for a national education service would see class sizes for five-to-seven year-olds kept below 30, while almost £5 billion extra would be pumped into the English school system by 2022.

Labour’s plans will be funded from the £20 billion it says will be raised by increasing corporation tax from its 19% rate to 26% by 2021/22 if Mr Corbyn becomes prime minister.

The Tories accused Mr Corbyn of breaking a promise not to raise corporation tax for small businesses, although the Labour leader described the planned increase as “modest” and said firms would prosper off the back of his party’s reforms.

Firms with profits below £300,000 would see their rate of corporation tax rise from 19% to 21% under Labour’s plans.

Launching the policy at a college in Leeds, Mr Corbyn said he was offering businesses a “new settlement”.

“A high-skilled and confident workforce is a must-have for a fairer Britain negotiating the post-Brexit world,” he said.

“Our businesses both large and small will prosper on the back of education and skills and training finally being given serious attention by a very serious government.

“So it’s only fair that businesses should be asked to contribute to the plan by financing the spending we are setting out today.

“And we will do this by reversing the tax cuts made by the Conservatives and still keep UK rates of corporation tax at the lowest of the (G7).

“It’s what we term our ‘new settlement’.

“When it comes to small business, the backbone of our economy, a Labour government will restore small profits rates and make only a modest increase.”

Footage has also emerged of shadow chancellor John McDonnell saying that Labourwould scrap tuition fees as part of its national education service.

Speaking at a rally in Mansfield in April, Mr McDonnell said: “We believe, we’ve always believed as a movement, that education is a gift from one generation to another, it’s not a commodity to be bought and sold.

“So we want to introduce, just as the (Clement) Attlee government with Nye Bevan introduced the National Health Service, we want to introduce a national education service, free at the point of need throughout life.

“That means ending the cuts in the schools at primary and second level, that means free childcare, it means free skills training whenever you need it throughout life.

“And yes, it means scrapping tuition fees once and for all, so we don’t burden our kids with debt in the future.”