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Blair defeats his party to increase college tuition Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040127_1452.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040127_1452.html
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/01/28/build/world/85-blair.inc
Blair Narrowly Beats Back Party Rebellion
British Leader Tony Blair Narrowly Wins Key Vote in Last-Minute Push to End Labour Party Revolt
The Associated Press
LONDON Jan. 27 — Prime Minister Tony Blair narrowly defeated a rebellion in his governing Labour Party on Tuesday against plans to increase university fees.
Lawmakers voted 316-311 in favor of the legislation, offering Blair a welcome boost before Wednesday's publication of a report on the death of a weapons adviser, which added to a furor over the government's case for the Iraq war.
Blair sat on the government front bench in the House of Commons as the result of the vote was announced to loud cheers from Labour lawmakers.
Ministers had embarked on an intense last-minute campaign to win support for the bill, which is the centerpiece of Blair's legislative program.
Many Labour lawmakers had viewed the proposals as a betrayal of a 1997 election promise that there would be no tuition hikes, and the bill crystallized party divisions over the direction of government policy. A defeat would have been Blair's first in Parliament since taking office in 1997.
Under the bill approved Tuesday, universities would be able to charge students up to $5,500 a year, to be paid after they leave school and start earning.
Colleges currently charge a flat-rate fee of $2,025 which is paid upfront. The government says the increase would provide an extra $1.8 billion a year for higher education.
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has also pledged scholarships for poorer students and promised a system to help ensure that more people from working class backgrounds enter higher education.
Tuesday's vote meant the bill passed its second reading, which is an agreement on its basic principles. It next goes before a committee of lawmakers who consider the legislation in detail and suggest possible changes before submitting it to a third reading in the Commons.
If approved at that stage, the bill moves to the House of Lords, which can delay or amend the legislation but not block it. The proposal becomes law after winning the backing of both houses and receiving royal assent.
Doubts about the war in Iraq will be back in sharp focus on Wednesday, with the publication of Lord Hutton's report on the apparent suicide of David Kelly, the weapons scientist who was identified as the source of a report questioning Blair's case for war in Iraq.
Hutton, a senior appeals judge, held hearings on the preparation of the government's intelligence dossier in September 2002, which warned of the dangers of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
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