MP David Chaytor has re-iterated his support for university top-up fees, just hours before tonight's (Tuesday Jan 27) crucial vote in Parliament.

Mr Chaytor says there is no such thing as a free university education, and says graduates should pay more towards the cost of getting a degree.

The Labour backbencher joined Tony Blair in addressing the IPPR (Institute of Public Policy Research) conference on higher education reform.

He said the Government's plans would give universities more money, abolish up-front tuition fees, and give grants to poorer students.

The Bury North MP dismissed fears that variable top-up fees would lead to a two-tier system: in fact, he said there had always been a hierarchy among British universities. "We should be less concerned about the existence of an elite and more concerned about opening up access to this elite and ensuring the dynamism and the diversity of the whole system," he said.

"Some fear that the new system will lead to students choosing courses on grounds of cost and not suitability.

"Far more likely is that students will become much better informed about the quality of courses and the careers to which they lead, and that more students will make realistic choices based on their aspirations and qualifications.

"This will, quite rightly, be disconcerting for some university departments.

"If we are serious about mass higher education, we have to invest more, and invest earlier, in our schools. That means asking more from those who take the most out."