[xtypo_dropcap]B[/xtypo_dropcap]usiness Secretary Vince Cable has said he may abstain from voting on the tuition fees bill that he himself has put forward.
The contradiction reflects the inner turmoil of the Lib Dem Party over their pre-election pledge not to raise tuition fees – and the government's intention to raise them.
The vote on whether to increase the cap on tuition fees is not due until next month, but has been driven up the political agenda by angry student protests.
The current cap is £3,290, which would rise to £6,000, and up to £9,000 in certain cases, in the new proposals put forward by the ministry that Vince Cable oversees.
The power-sharing agreement hammered out by the two parties after the election allows the Lib Dems to abstain in any vote for legislation that increases tuition fees.
Mr Cable told the BBC: "My own personal instinct, partly because I'm the secretary of state responsible for universities and partly because I think the policy is right, my own instincts are very much to vote for it but we want to vote as a group."
Echoing the rhetoric of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, Mr Cable defended the plans to change the university tuition fees system, saying they were progressive.
"First of all nobody will pay upfront fees; large numbers of part-timers, 40 per cent of students at the moment, do pay up front fees. They won't have to in future.
"Twenty-five per cent of all graduates will pay less than they do at the moment because it's a progressive scheme and actually 85 per cent of students will have more help when they go to university with the grant and loan scheme," he told the BBC.
But a report published on Tuesday contradicts the government's claims, saying that a "triple whammy" of higher fees, real interest rates for loans, and a longer period before the debt is written off will leave the taxpayers worse off.
The report said that the new fees system will limit social mobility and result in almost two thirds of graduates paying much more for a degree.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg would not be drawn on how he would vote when pressed by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harmon in the Commons.
Mrs Harmon said that her party would be voting against the proposals. "If he abstains, it's a cop out. If he votes for it, it's a sell out. Which is it?" she said.
