AS a member of a party that has been harshly punished for a promise not to raise university fees, a promise that neither our coalition partners nor the opposition supported, I am surprised to see Nick Bent making a similar promise in the Warrington Guardian.

Could he let us know whether it is still official Labour Party policy to reduce university fees to a maximum of £6,000 in the next parliament if they come to office after May 7?

The ‘pledge’ much trumpeted early last year did not appear in their Leader’s conference speech as was noted by the Times Higher Education Supplement at the time.

Many students now going through university appreciate the advantages of: nothing to pay until they earn more than £21,000, lower monthly payments than under Labour and payments that go down if their income falls. Far from reducing demand, nationally, more students than ever, and more from disadvantaged backgrounds, are going to university.

Warrington South is in the top 50 out of 650 constituencies for the proportion of 18-year-olds going to university. Of those applying to the top Russell Group universities four times as many from Warrington South get accepted as the national average.

Other students are making a sensible choice to take up one of the million additional apprenticeships and training places funded by the coalition, which may be better for them than attending university.

It is wrong of Nick Bent and Labour to continue to discourage students by raising unnecessary fears about how they will pay for their university education, and making promises his party probably can’t keep.

CLLR PROF BOB BARR OBE Liberal Democrat, Lymm