Trident and Tuition Fees at L/D Conference (David Rendel)

Trident and Tuition Fees at L/D Conference

September 24, 2009 11:44 AM

David Rendel and Simon Hughes at Scrap Tuition Fees Demonstration. David Rendel, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Newbury, gave a speech at the Liberal Democrat national conference in Bournemouth on Tuesday supporting the abolition of tuition fees for undergraduates and no replacement for Trident.

Mr Rendel spoke during the most important of all the conference debates, the one in which the party's draft manifesto for the next General Election was being discussed.

"Replacing Trident will not make our country one jot safer from the real threats we face", he said.

"Even if we shut down Aldermaston tomorrow, there would still be enough work on the site to keep all those currently employed there in work for the rest of their working lives. That's because it would take decades to clear the site, given the complexity of all the nuclear buildings and materials involved.

"But the most important criterion for deciding defence policy must surely always be the needs of our defence forces. The Conservatives have promised to cut the defence budget, but not to touch our nuclear defences. Inevitably therefore they are planning to cut the budget for conventional warfare. This means cuts in things like helicopters and armoured vehicles in Afghanistan, which would put our troops at even greater risk. The Liberal Democrats will never do that.

Mr Rendel went on to support the abolition of tuition fees. He said that encouraging everyone who could make good use of a university education to do so would bring immense benefits to society as a whole.

"When WE run the government", he said, "for all our undergraduates EDUCATION WILL BE FREE".