The last of the ‘honest’ MP? Or just plain cocky?

‘Every party says what they need to get power. This is politics,’ declared Liberal Democrat councillor Duwayne Brooks in an interview last Friday, with a bunch of us student journalists at City University London.

London mayoral nominee Brooks, 32, defended – among other issues – the coalition government’s new plan to hike tuition fees up to £9,000, despite the Liberal Democrats pre-election pledge to scrap tuition fees.

‘You say what the voters want to hear, what you think will make them happy. This is politics, and it’s what everyone’s been doing for a long time. In terms of what was said during the elections – everyone mislead everyone. Power is power, everyone wanted it.’

As it stands, tuition fees are £3290, however with the three-fold increase, students face owing £27,000 for fees alone. ‘Many students will never earn enough to pay back their loans, the average pay for a graduate in London is £21,000. It’s very unlikely a graduate will earn over £25,000, and even then it’s £7 a week. That’s less than life insurance.’

The unapologetic Brooks highlighted that prior to the two coalition parties being elected neither the Liberal Democrats nor Conservatives had any idea as to the extent of the Nations’ financial problems.

He said: “At election time you’re always going to get someone saying ‘A’ to you, but when they get into power they realise that there’s no money left. That’s just how it is. At the end of the day, its all about money”

During the interview, Brooks candidly touched on several hot topics concerning ethnic minorities, drugs and welfare reforms.

On the government’s recent proposals for welfare reform, Brooks stated: ‘the problem with Britons is that they’re too damn lazy! There are families where no one has ever worked, why should they? They get money anyway. It’s too easy in this country – if everything is this easy, then why would you ever work for it?’

I don’t see how someone who hasn’t had the same things I have had growing up can come and take my job, then there’s something wrong with me.’

Brooks first came into the public eye in 1993 as one of the friends of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence. Since then he has been heavily involved with the repealing of the Stop and Search initiative as well as the LibDem’s Safer Communities Programme.

Brooks was speaking about this last Friday, and therefore has no idea of the riots at the Student Demos at Millbank Towers earlier today – it seems that even if the government thinks many students won’t pay back their debts, the students don’t see it that way and are prepared to take action, violent or otherwise…