The Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has apologised for the rise in tuition fees under the Coalition government. Mr Clegg said:
"I'd like to take this opportunity to put a few things straight. When I meet people around the country it's obvious that many of you have strong and pretty mixed reactions to some of the things that Liberal Democrats have done in government. Many of you tell me that your glad that at a time of real economic uncertainty we put aside our political differences to provide our country with stable leadership. But I also meet people who are disappointed and angry that we couldn't keep all our promises above all our promise not to raise tuition fees and to those people I say this:
We made a promise before the election that we would vote against any rise in fees under any circumstances, but that was a mistake. It was a pledge made with the best of intentions but we shouldn't of made a promise weren't absolutely sure we could deliver. I shouldn't of committed to a policy that was so expensive when there was no money around. Not least when the most likely way we'd end up in government was in coalition with Labour or the Conservatives who had both committed to put fees up. I know that we fought to get the best policy we could in those circumstances but I also realise that isn't the point. There is no easy way to say this, we made a pledge we didn't stick to it and for that I am sorry.
When you've made a mistake you should apologise but more importantly most important of all you've got to learn from your mistakes that is what we will do. I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it. I accept that wont be enough for everyone but I owe it to you to be upfront about it and I don't believe it should cast a shadow over everything else the Liberal Democrats are achieving in government.
When we're wrong we hold our hands up but when we're right we hold our heads up too. We were right to leave the comfort of opposition to face the realities of government and I know we are fighting for the right things day in day out too. Rebuilding our economy to make it strong, changing the tax system to make it fair, defending the vulnerable in these tough times thats what my party believes in thats what I believe in. And if we've lost your trust thats I hope we can start to win it back".
