The Coffee House A-Z of the Coalition: T-Z

Here are letters T to Z in our A-Z guide the coalition’s first year. A-F are here. G-M are here. And N-S are here.

T is for Tuition fees

“Broken promises, there have been too many in the last few years.” So said Nick Clegg in a Liberal Democrat video during the last election campaign. It was favourite theme of his — and one that he deployed both during the TV debates and in signing a pledge to scrap tuition fees. This was to be a New Politics. Clegg was to be its champion.

Shame it didn’t quite work like that. The coalition agreement was damaging enough to Clegg’s aura: it didn’t guarantee that tuition fees wouldn’t rise, only that the Lib Dems wouldn’t have to vote for such a rise. But then came the Browne review, and the final contradiction to Clegg’s pledge: tuition fees would rise after all.