NCTJ newspaper journalism student Samson Dada interviewed MP Liz Kendall - and the report won Article of the Year at the De Montfort University Demon Media Awards.

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NCTJ newspaper journalism diploma course article by Samson Dada
Liz Kendall reveals why she did not sign the tuition fees pledge
Samson Dada talks to Liz Kendall about tuition fees and the
importance of social mobility
Outspoken shadow health minister Liz Kendall has defended her decision not to sign
the pledge against the trebling of tuition fees.
The DMU Student Union was disappointed that Ms Kendall did not sign the pledge
against the trebling of tuition fees.
In an exclusive interview at her Leicester constituency surgery, she said: “I voted
against the rise in tuition fees and I did not sign the pledge because Labour began the
Browne Review. I did not want to make a promise I was not 100 per cent certain I
could keep.”
She added: “Trebling of tuition fees is wrong for students and wrong for the
economy.”
Ms Kendall criticised the Liberal Democrats’ categorical pledge during the general
election campaign to “resist and campaign” against any increases in tuition fees.
“Politicians should not make promises they cannot keep just to win cheap votes like
Nick Clegg did. We now know that he knew that committing his party to phasing out
tuition fees over six years was a false position, but did it anyway just to win votes.”
Ms Kendall admitted that Ed Miliband’s support of a graduate tax to replace how
students repay their loans has many problems - but it remains a ‘viable’ alternative to
the current system where students repay their loans when they earn over £21,000 a
year.
“The advantage of a graduate contribution is that the more you earn, the more you
pay, but there are difficulties with the graduate tax which is that people significantly
pay more than the cost of their course; Graduates can move abroad and the Treasury
collect the money rather than the money being given to universities.
“While the graduate tax has complications, we must find a better system than the one
we currently have.”
She also spoke passionately about her desire to see social mobility increase in the
United Kingdom.
Speaking after a lecture at De Monfort University, she said: “getting on in life should
not just be the preserve of the very rich.”
The lecture, called “Social Mobility: Where next”? was about how every child should
fulfill their potential regardless of their social and economic background.
She said that investing in the child’s early years was critical to their future educational
attainment.
“When I was Director of the Maternity Alliance charity, I did a lot of work around
pregnancy which is critical in shaping a child’s later life chances. By the time, kids
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reach the age of eight, less talented put better off kids are doing better than really
talented, poorer kids,” she said.
She said that universities must do more to encourage students from the poorest
households to attend university.
“There is a lot more that universities can do to reach students from disadvantaged
backgrounds, who we know do incredibly well at university – if they get the chance.”
She added: “They may not always get the best A-Level grades, but when they get to
university they often outperform the children from much better off families.”
When asked about whether she is concerned that politics is dominated by public
school educated, Oxbridge graduates, Ms Kendall said : “It is a problem if people who
make decisions which affect our lives are from a narrow background.
“The danger is that they do not understand the lives of other groups of people, and can
possibly make poor decisions”
“Alan Milburn’s report about social mobility talked about how if a student knows
other doctors and lawyers, or their parents do, then they can secure work placements
in these professions, whereas someone without connections will find it difficult to
find work placements.”
Liz Kendall is the Labour MP for Leicester West and the shadow health minister.
To view Samson’s political interviews, go to http://thedadainterviews.wordpress.com./
NCTJ newspaper journalism diploma course article by Samson Dada
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