If I were an Oxford student who voted Liberal Democrat at the last election I would be pretty damned cheesed off by the party’s volte face over tuition fees. This was no doubt made clear when their representatives met leader Nick Clegg yesterday afternoon.

In a calculated move, the Lib Dems set out to woo the student vote in marginal constituencies such as Oxford with a pledge that they would abolish the fees. Clegg came to Oxford Brookes University in April and said as much. That’s him on the occasion above, with the Oxford East Liberal Democrat candidate Steve Goddard.

At the time Goddard — who teaches at Oxford University — said: “The Liberal Democrats have opposed Labour’s tuition fees from the beginning, and abolished them when we were in government in Scotland. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown’s Labour MP in Oxford East [that’s Andrew Smith, folks] voted for them, despite promising not to introduce them.

“I know from my work as a lecturer that students are finding times very tough. There is clear evidence that Labour’s fees are putting people off from [sic] applying to university. It’s great that Nick came to Oxford to outline our plans to abolish fees. With both Oxford and Brookes in the area, students can play a crucial role in determining the next MP here and Government in Westminster.”

What has happened, of course, is that the fees have not been abolished. On the contrary, by raising the cap the “Coalition Government” — as the BBC always refers to the shower that govern us — has ensured that they will go up.

Most of the information, above, incidentally, was gleaned by me from the Liberal Democrats own website. You’d think they’d have the wit to eliminate the evidence of their mendacity.