Vote 2005, week 2, new poll!

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Damien

What happens if a party wins the election but its leader loses his seat?

I laugh if Labour got re-elected but Blair lost his seat!
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Originally Posted by Damien

The torys want to charge intrest rates on student loans . If you dont get a job right after UNI god knows how bad it could get

Labour already charge interest on student loans - my wife works for the NHS and her yearly interest is greater than the amount she repays through work!

The Conservatives want to scrap student fees and top-up fees and replace them with the old system of grants and optional student loans. When I went to uni this was the system and I did not need a loan as I could afford to live on what I earned over each summer. A couple of years later and my wife had no choice but to get a loan.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Damien

The torys want to charge intrest rates on student loans . If you dont get a job right after UNI god knows how bad it could get

But there's interest charged on student loans now (or at least mine has been going up ever since I took them out).

[Dave Stones]

yeah, is linked to inflation i believe.... so it's lower than bank and shark loan rates, but there is definitely interest to be paid....

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Dave Stones

yeah, is linked to inflation i believe.... so it's lower than bank and shark loan rates, but there is definitely interest to be paid....

I believe it gets adjusted once a year and is currently around 3.1%

Yeah, I mean that want to charge commerical intrest on loans. In other words it would be same as a normal loan

[keithwalton]

Knowing what the interest rate is before you take the loan out that you need to eat with would be nice. When I started they insisted that the interest was negligable and nothing to worry about, its since jumped from 1.5% to over 3% and well on what will be £12 borrowed i'll be owing over £13k the day i graduate just grand.
And oh if fee's went and grants came back that would be an extra £2k + a year in my pocket that i wouldnt have to take out on loan. If it was like that when i started my debt would be £4k not £12k for me seeing the same amount of money.
I'll give labour one thing they are creative at screwing you over for your money

Originally Posted by Damien

Yeah, I mean that want to charge commerical intrest on loans. In other words it would be same as a normal loan

That would be a nasty shock for all students, if it's true. Where did you read it? Do you have a link?

Originally Posted by BBC

In Higher Education, the Conservatives will scrap all university tuition fees. However they will charge commercial rates of interest on student loans.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politi...es/4329107.stm

Originally Posted by Damien

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politi...es/4329107.stm

Congratulations, if you carry on half-quoting your opponents like that, you could be an MP before you're 30.

So they're not merely upping interest, as you first suggested - they are offsetting that increase by removing tuition fees. Whether that makes this a cost-neutral policy or not, I don't know. But it is clearly less costly than you wanted us to think. Tsk!

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Chris T

That would be a nasty shock for all students, if it's true. Where did you read it? Do you have a link?

From the Conservative Manifesto:

Originally Posted by Conservatives

Under the Conservatives, there will be:

• No student fees, cutting student debt by £9,000 †“ almost in half;
• A new, independent Student Loans Trust. Students will pay a low commercial interest rate, but will be able to borrow higher amounts to replace expensive credit card and overdraft debts; and
• Loans without means tests. The amounts that students can borrow will be higher to reflect the real cost of living at university. For an average student, the overall cost of repaying their loans with interest will fall by around a third compared with the Governmentââ ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s plans, and the loans will be paid off more quickly. Students will only start repaying loans when they earn £15,000 , and a Conservative Government will retain student grants for those from less well-off family backgrounds.

...and suddenly it doesn't sound nearly so bad.

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Chris T

So they're not merely upping interest, as you first suggested - they are offsetting that increase by removing tuition fees. Whether that makes this a cost-neutral policy or not, I don't know. But it is clearly less costly than you wanted us to think. Tsk!

According to the manifesto it will save students half their debt because they can get student loans instead of credit card debt as well as abolishing tuition fees.

Originally Posted by Chris T

Congratulations, if you carry on half-quoting your opponents like that, you could be an MP before you're 30.

So they're not merely upping interest, as you first suggested - they are offsetting that increase by removing tuition fees. Whether that makes this a cost-neutral policy or not, I don't know. But it is clearly less costly than you wanted us to think. Tsk!

The real cost of uni is the price of living, I am going to uni this year and i can afford the UNI fee (i'll admit that it will go up next year though). But its £3000 for living there THEN the price of equipment THEN the day to day living costs. I am not sure that scrapping the fee will completly off-set the cost. Especially how big the loans are. After all the fees went up for a reason so where is the money coming from?

The real question is if the intrest will start working from the day you take out your loan. If it does then how high can it get but the time you can start working? Or will it frezze until you start working?

Originally Posted by Damien

The real cost of uni is the price of living, I am going to uni this year and i can afford the UNI fee (i'll admit that it will go up next year though). But its £3000 for living there THEN the price of equipment THEN the day to day living costs. I am not sure that scrapping the fee will completly off-set the cost. Especially how big the loans are. After all the fees went up for a reason so where is the money coming from?

I imagine it's going to come from their 'wastage' savings.

Anyone else see Question Time last night? I just loved it when the old geezer in the audience cited a job advert in the Guardian this week, London Ambulance recruiting a 'Diversity Officer' to earn £40k.

Every goverment say they can save money of wastege during an election. I was even watching the first yes minister the other day and the first action was 'to cut wastage'. There may be a bit of wastage (also just because the adverts in the guardian dont contain police, doctors, nurses doesnt mean they are all non jobs).

I am not sure but much money can really be saved on wastage? There may be a way to fund there education savings but something would have to give. Less students or less investment unless the loans are enough to fund the whole thing.

How much is a commerical intrest rate?