Student who told David Cameron "I don't believe you" talks to Current

Nice one. I don't believe a word he says either. Nick Clegg for PM!

The true political power in the world is in the hands of the youth.

I liked the fact that Chloe was civil and that both the student and politician spoke to each other in a calm tone.

Unfortunately it feels like the news coverage of this kind of stuff in the United States usually involves at least one of the people in discussions like this being rude.

Good point about instinct and trust. Personally I think Clegg is the only one who doesn't force himself to smile, I don't listen to the debates because they just say what they think we want to hear, which from Brown and Cameron can be cringe worthy. I don't know anout Clegg but I feel the negative press in certain papers is just an attack from the papers party bias.

Democracy itself revolves around choice and I didn't see that with the American election, because Old man and Palin just weren't a choice for anyone other than stereotypical redneck, deep south Americans.

As for this election, I don't have a choice. We can't keep Brown, Cameron is quite obviously a prick who would sell his own mother if he thought it would make him PM, and apparently a vote for Clegg is a vote for a hung parliament. At least with a monarchy we occasionally got a good one.

Good piece of news that actually matters, enjoyed reading and watching the interview, good job on actually pushing him for a real answer Chloe> they usually get off the hook far too easily...

This is weird...someone from the real news talking on Current...though I guess what's even odder is being that person. Oh, what a crazy media world we live in...

This is brilliant! wish i could have been there!

Sorry Chloe, the screen froze on me as I pressed the submit button and then the comment was no longer there!

I agree that it's a sweeping statement but after watching that debate it's clear that the issue is not even the accuracy of the statement. It is much bigger than that. The way politics, democracy and elections are conducted today is little more than a technical process. So for example often we are told that we must vote to keep the baddies, like the BNP out, or we must vote because the suffragettes died for our right to vote as women, or we must vote simply to take part in the democratic process...la-di-da. There is hardly ever any mention of voting because you stand for or believe in something. Brendan O'Neill puts it beautifully in that debate below. He says: the suffragettes or the black activists in South Africa didn't fight hard for the right to put a tick in a box, they fought to bring about social change

Worldwrite, I don't know where your comment went, but it was spot on.

Why is it specifically the young working class members of society allegedly not voting? I know plenty of middle/upper class kids who can't be bothered with politics and think it's "a load of cr*p" or something similar. What a hideous sweeping statement.

I don't necessarily think that tuition fees should be abolished - I don't know where the money would be coming out of to fund such a huge budget and if university was free, students would go just on a "why not, it's free" kind of mind set which devalues those who go out of passion for a subject and the desire to learn.
What I do want though, is for the next government to hold on tightly to the cap on tuition fees so that they do not end up becoming socially elitist institutions and make sure government support is available for those who genuinely require it.

I think it's a wonderful thing that Chloe is championing the student voice, which hasn't been that audible during this year's election proceedings.

On the subject of the economy, I don't think it's correct for students to pick up the slack, with regards to the deficit. As duce_the_3rd said, less students going to university could increase the number of 'placements' (only one of many ways for students to enter work), but I think it would be detrimental to society in the long-run. If we educate less students, we run the risk of getting into this mess again, as it's people like Chloe, and her student peers, that may one day be ruling this country. We cannot afford to skimp on education.

I don’t think that Chloe is being selfish at all for bringing up the question of tuition fees with David Cameron. My problem with the debate on tuition fees however, is that on both sides it is premised on a rather degraded view of education as a commodity. I think that to meaningfully oppose tuition fees, we need to articulate the non-economic value of education and to defend the autonomy of the university itself as “a place for teaching universal knowledge”, as JH Newman said in 1853.

I can understand that the public image of the student is not wonderful, but please let me assure you, these loutish and disrespectful yobs are a very small minority. Since enrolling at Southampton I have met some of the most inspiring, talented and intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure to meet: these are the ones who should be representing student kind.
And all areas of society get bad press at some point; doctors you can't trust, corrupt police forces, violent taxi drivers. This doesn't mean that they are all bad, just one or two let all the others down.
I don't think that the state of the economy will shift if less working class students went to university; perhaps universities should be more picking in terms of grades, thus admitting less students - that way it wouldn't matter what class you belonged to, you would be judged against others by merit alone. As it stands, this is the way things work now; I earned my place by working extremely hard and getting As in my A Levels. The answer is keeping it elitist in terms purely of merit, so whomever is brightest can go, whether they need a bit of government support or not. We cannot let the brightest minds go to waste, just because their parents don't earn as much.

my apologeze chloe, for suggesting u r a liberal, i sometimes forget that the media print what they want, im not suggesting that ur parents aren't tax payers nor that u urself cant be bothered to work, and im all for people getting the chance to go into higher education, university used to be for the children of the higher earners in society, and i belive the government did the right thing in opening up the doors to eveybody, however i'm concerned about the student population comming out of higher education, cant find a job stuck doing something they hate and still living at home becuase the state of the economic climate is so poor that they wont be able to achive there full potential after finishing higher education, all im suggesting is that priorities need to come first, we fix the economy employment increses, wages go up, degrees = garenteed placement, student earns money, pays taxes money goes back into economy and helps the next student finishing uniersity, im not saying its perfect, but perhaps decreesing the burseries and raising the student loan may help put a little extra money back into the economy to get the ball rolling,
again im not suggesting that i could run this country better that the three candidates for the election but i beleive all options need to be considered,

chloe i didn;t mean to cause offense in anyway possible, to be honest i hadn't thought of it in that way, im just tired of seeing all these students getting drunk uranating on war mamorials and fighting in the streets, im not suggesting ur won of them, i just see these things in media and think, "why should i be paying for them to have a higher education"

I don't think it's selfish of that girl to ask about how new governments would affect her education. The whole point of voting intelligently in an election is to consider what each party's policies mean to you and how they affect you.

It's not like she was asking if he could sort out better parking on her street or something that only benefits you - she was asking him if he was going to make it possible for thousands of people (who couldn't otherwise afford to go to university) enjoy a higher education.

ps. I didn't say that I was voting LibDem, that is something that the press assumed after I said I swayed to the left and due to my constituency I have to vote tactically, so asking me if Clegg is any different is irrelevant.

I appreciate your opinion duce_the_3rd, but I don't think it was selfish of me to be thinking about my rights in terms of the government - surely if I am to meet Cameron once in my life, the first thing I want to know is what he is going to do that will affect me and people like myself, from similar backgrounds.
And I take offence at you insinuating that I don't work or that my parents are implied not to be 'british tax payers' because that is not the case; because of our financial position, I worked three jobs during my A Levels so that I didn't have to rely upon my parents, who both work full time, my father being a labouring builder for the last 45 years.
And I don't want more money - I told Cameron that I was given 'a lot' of money from the government, which I appreciate more than I can say in words; the worry I have is that with these drastic cuts (which we have no substantial knowledge of), generous bursaries that make young people like me able to go through university may potentially be the victim of a harsh review. I may be wrong, but in my eyes, Cameron isn't the sort of man who would care much for those students whose parents work their fingers to the bone but need that extra bit of support, which I think the families have rightfully earned by working the labouring jobs that nobody who had the chance to go to university, would be caught dead doing.
My parents couldn't go to university because back then it was money over merit and I fear that this will become a vicious cycle, affecting thousands of other young, bright, but less well off young people.

To be honest i'm glad chloe got a chance to voice her opinon stright to david cameron, yet to be honest i think it was a bit selfish, "what about me, if it wasn't for government funding i wouldn't be here" im sorry but is that what really matter when electing a government, how is it going to help u personally, there are much more pressing issue rather than one student who wont get a sum of free money that the brithsh tax payers have to cop for, the people who actually work in this country and fork out millions in tax every year are actually contributing to the stability of this country, and the last thing they need is a student moaning that they dont get enough money or even lose out on more money they wont have to pay back, chloe seems like a smart kid and i dont know what see seemed to think when cameron claimed that they weren't disposing of bursaries, yet she claimed to not belive him, good point because all politicians lie, but can i ask what make clegg any different?

I'm a 3rd year University student and i'm sure as hell glad that i'm finishing with higher education ASAP. Coming from a relatively poor background iv'e been forced to rely on student loans/grants to pay for my tuition + survival over the course of my studies, (and iv'e still been forced to work full-time and miss lectures some weeks in order to make ends meet).

Tuition fees have been rising steadily under labours administration and i'm sure we'll see that trend continue under a conservative government, especially considering Cameron's pathological avoidance of taxing big business; i'm sure his proposed 12bn cuts in public spending will impact spending on education if he gets into power.
Many of my friends from lower income families, (lower than mine), are intimidated by the amount of debt that faces the average degree student upon graduating, (i myself am going to be in 18-20k debt when i graduate). With costs set to go up it's becoming more and more difficult for those students coming directly out of 6th form/college to sustainably afford to attend university without a scholarship or some degree for financial backing like from a parent, which face it is not available to everyone.

Surely the last thing you want to do is discourage potential students from seeking education, unfortunately by increasing the debt placed upon students shoulders your going to do just that, especially in an environment where jobs for graduates are far from guaranteed.

Cameron's been vague at best in outlining how his proposed 12bn public spending cuts are going to be spread across public services, and i totally agree with Chloe in not believing Cameron over what he says concerning university funding.

University funding should be protected, not the paychecks of CEO's, unfortunately that's the only thing that can be guaranteed under a conservative government...

good put-down lady!

I studied at Southampton too. Do I win £5?

I'm 19 too and I hope I have the guts to do something like if ever I get the opportunity.

I'm not the biggest Cameron fan but, to be fair to him, he did well to try to get his case across patiently and off the cuff. I don't agree with what he said though and I LOVE the "I don't believe you" at the end. Politicians need to know that young voters like us aren't stupid. We get talked down to and fobbed off with 'matey' tones and simplistic answers yet if enough of us vote, we could really influence the outcome of this election.

Nice one Chloe!

I love this description of herself:

"I’m just a normal student who is probably hideously idealistic and unrealistic"

Chloe is in the right place.

I dont belive politicians period. and Cameron, one shady, neo-nazi, mother******

way to go Chloe!

she'd have my vote