Clarke issues 'no concession' warning

A defiant refusal to back down over university top-up fees was sounded by Education Secretary Charles Clarke today.

He confronted delegates at Bournemouth amid protests at plans to charge students up to £3,000 a year extra for their tuition. Mr Clarke, a close ally of Tony Blair, echoed Downing Street's insistence that tough reforms of public services could not be watered down.

But he also argued fiercely that the higher education plans fitted squarely into traditional Labour values, saying the top priority for public money must be primary school children. Mr Clarke was due to tell delegates that graduates should not expect to be cosseted at the expense of needy children. "Every child matters. Every adult matters," he was expected to say.

Mr Clarke's tough message put him among the frontline of Blairites digging in to defend the Prime Minister's controversial reforms programme in the wake of Gordon Brown's speech.

The Chancellor's allies claim Mr Brown is not happy with the topup fees plans.

Aides said Mr Clarke's message was "no retreat, no compromise and no concessions". But there was strong speculation he is keeping sweeteners up his sleeve for later on, when the plans will be put to a make-or-break vote in the Commons in which dozens of Labour MPs have vowed to rebel.

Mr Clarke was due to tell delegates that "at every stage of life, education is the driver of opportunity, the engine of progress. The Labour way is to believe every child and every student can achieve".

Academics today warned that without extra money for universities, thousands of student places would have to be axed.

The study, by the Higher Education Policy Institute, predicts that two-thirds of universities will charge the maximum top-up fees of £3,000 a year, raising around £1.5 billion. But that would still leave a funding gap of roughly the same amount for taxpayers.