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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/lib-dems-messy-on-tuition-fees.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="A close ally of Nick Clegg admitted the Lib Dems' positioning on student fees has been 'messy'" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-lib-dems-messy-on-tuition-fees.jpg" alt="A close ally of Nick Clegg admitted the Lib Dems' positioning on student fees has been 'messy'"/></a></p>
<p>A close ally of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has admitted the Liberal Democrats&#8217; positioning on student fees has been &#8220;messy&#8221;, as confusion continued over which way the party&#8217;s 57 MPs will vote.</p>
<p>Norman Lamb said it is the &#8220;strong preference&#8221; of both him and Mr Clegg to back measures which would almost treble the maximum university tuition fee to £9,000, but added that they would respect the collective decision of the parliamentary party, which meets on Tuesday.</p>
<p>His comments came amid reports of angry exchanges between Mr Clegg and Business Secretary Vince Cable, who has responsibility for getting the proposals through Parliament.</p>
<p>Mr Cable last week said he had &#8220;no doubt&#8221; he would vote in favour of the reforms, before swiftly backtracking and saying he would abstain if all his parliamentary colleagues agreed to do so.</p>
<p>The mass abstention option was put forward in a bid to prevent a three-way split in the party in Thursday&#8217;s Commons vote, with former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell otherwise expected to be joined by several backbenchers in voting against the Government.</p>
<p>But it has magnified the sense of confusion surrounding the Lib Dems, who have come under intense pressure from students angry at their failure to live up to a manifesto promise to abolish fees.</p>
<p>Norfolk North MP Mr Lamb, who is Mr Clegg&#8217;s chief political adviser, told BBC1&#8217;s The Politics Show: &#8220;This is difficult, it&#8217;s messy&#8230; My very strong preference, as is the case for Nick, is to vote in favour&#8230; (but) we have clear processes. Nick is very keen that he engages with the parliamentary party. We will make our final decision when the parliamentary party meets.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in a last-minute bid to shore up support for the reforms, ministers have unveiled proposals for disadvantaged students to receive at least one year&#8217;s free tuition.</p>
<p>Under a £150 million National Scholarship Programme, being strongly promoted by Mr Clegg, the state would pay one year&#8217;s fees for an estimated 18,000 young people who are eligible for free school meals. Universities which charge more than £6,000 would be required to match this by paying for a second year, delivering a maximum total saving of £18,000 in the cost of a degree.</p>
<p>But in a letter to Mr Cable, Labour&#8217;s shadow business secretary John Denham said the move amounts to an admission that higher fees will put poorer students off university. &#8220;We welcome this 11th-hour recognition of reality&#8230; but it makes the question about the impact on social mobility more, not less pressing,&#8221; he added.</p>
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