The UK government has suffered a House of Commons defeat over its policy of increasing tuition fees in line with inflation, but it insists that the vote is not binding.

MPs backed a Labour motion that called for this autumn¡¯s increase to ?9,250 to be rescinded, after the Democratic Unionist Party ¨C whose support the Conservatives rely on to govern ¨C indicated that it would side with the opposition.

Before the debate, ministers had insisted that the latest increase in fees would be unaffected by a defeat because the 40-day period to challenge the secondary legislation that introduced the rise had expired. But Labour said that the calling of June¡¯s general election had left it with no opportunity to challenge the vote in the Commons and claimed that the government was showing ¡°blatant disregard for democracy¡±.

The defeat comes amid growing concern about levels of student debt among graduates of English universities.

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Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said that the fee increase should now be scrapped.

¡°The Tories?brought in this?fee hike through a statutory instrument, not a vote in the Commons,?so today is?the first time [the issue of] ?9,250 tuition fees has been brought to Parliament,?where it was unanimously?rejected,¡± Ms Rayner said after the debate.

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¡°The?government?had?no mandate to increase fees to begin with, and if?they do not now reverse the fee hike they will be defying the will of Parliament in blatant disregard for our democracy.¡±

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com