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Pat McFadden said ministers who had benefited from a top university education risked ¡°pulling up the drawbridge¡± on the next generation.

His opposite number in government, Vince Cable, has stated that he is not in favour of Labour¡¯s target of 50 per cent of young people entering higher education, a policy introduced during Tony Blair¡¯s second term in office.

Mr McFadden, speaking today in Manchester at Labour¡¯s annual party conference, said: ¡°More achievement isn¡¯t a decline in standards: it¡¯s people getting chances in life that their parents and grandparents could never have dreamed of. And our movement knows that if you give people a platform, they will achieve.¡±

He added: ¡°I have a message for the ministers in charge who benefited from the best education themselves: stop attacking the goals of more participation in education; don¡¯t pull up the drawbridge from the generation that comes after you.¡±

The speech came two days after Ed Miliband narrowly defeated his brother David in the race to become the Labour Party¡¯s leader. He is in favour of replacing the current system of student tuition fees and loans in England with a graduate tax ¨C a major shift in policy for the party that introduced the current system while in power.

simon.baker@tsleducation.com

? For more coverage and analysis of the Labour Party conference, see Times Higher Education, 30 September.