Many parents, students and teachers in Horsham have been variously concerned and angry about this and this week's County Times contains several pages of local reactions to the news.
Even the leader of the Lib Dems on West Sussex county council is quoted as saying that the Lib Dems nationally have been 'disappointing', although her criticism is very mild. She seems to be saying that raising tuition fees is right and necessary and that the only disappointing thing is the pledge made by Lib Dem candidates to the contrary.
The Horsham Labour party reaction was given by our chair, David Hide, as follows:
Horsham Labour party fully supports NUS president Aaron Porter's comments of November 10 on the BBC when he condemned the violent protests but restated his commitment to overturn the Con-Dem government's decision to treble tuition fees, through peaceful protest and the democratic process.
The anger the students feel can only have been inflamed by the deception perpetrated by the increasingly discredited Lib Dems as they now turn their back on the most public of pledges, made during the general election, to abolish tuition fees altogether.
We oppose the unnecessarey increase in tuition fees to £9,000 per year and see this as a massive disincentive for those potential students from the poorest and moderate income families seeking to benefit from a university education.
Saddling students with this level of debt will make the aspiration of home ownership and a secure start to working life for all but those from the most privileged of backgrounds an even more distant opportunity for our young people.