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6 December 2010
Last updated at 03:48 ET
Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has defended Nick Clegg ahead of Thursday's Commons vote on whether university tuition fees should rise.
He said the deputy prime minister had shown "great wisdom and a good deal of courage" in his handling of the issue.
Mr Clegg has faced criticism for backing coalition plans to raise fees to as much as £9,000, despite pledging to fight any rise before the election.
But Lord Ashdown said the choice would deliver benefits "in the long term".
Before the general election the Liberal Democrats pledged to oppose any increase in tuition fees.
'In a mess' But the policy changed when the party formed a coalition government with the Conservatives. Under the agreement Lib Dem MPs can still abstain.
However, former party leaders Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy are among those thought likely to vote with Labour against the change when it goes before the Commons.
The National Union of Students is promising to campaign directly against Lib Dem MPs who back the fees increase, arguing that the change will deter people from poorer backgrounds from going to university.
Lord Ashdown told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What we're doing is going through a process and this is all out in the open, [and] being done without rancour, which is very important to hold the party together.
"I personally think that Nick has handled this with great wisdom and a good deal of courage. It's not the first time when the Liberal Democrats have taken, in the short term, unpopular decision that they believe to be right which has delivered benefit in the long term."
In coalition, there were "some things you like and some things you don't like", Lord Ashdown said.
'Not listening' He added: "Although there is a commitment that has been made during the election, there is another agreement we have to stick to which is the coalition agreement. That says at the very least you will abstain on this, vote for it if you can."
He accepted it would be several years before the Lib Dems saw any benefit from taking an "unpopular" decision, saying: "At the moment they (the public) are just not listening. Nick could deliver the Sermon on the Mount. They are just not listening."
Lib Dem backbench MP Greg Mulholland is pushing for the vote to be called off, so that a full public consultation on the future of university funding in England can be carried out ahead of a government white paper in 2011.
He said: "There are very, very few who will support this motion. There are a few considering whether to abstain or vote against. But there are already a notable number who have decided that they will vote against this if it comes to it.
"And they are also saying, as I am, that really we shouldn't be going ahead with this because we've got ourselves into a mess and they only way out of this is to not have a vote on Thursday."
The fees policy has been framed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is led by Lib Dem Vince Cable. He has said he will vote in favour of it on Thursday.
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He said the deputy prime minister had shown "great wisdom and a good deal of courage" in his handling of the issue.
Mr Clegg has faced criticism for backing coalition plans to raise fees to as much as £9,000, despite pledging to fight any rise before the election.
But Lord Ashdown said the choice would deliver benefits "in the long term".
Before the general election the Liberal Democrats pledged to oppose any increase in tuition fees.
'In a mess' But the policy changed when the party formed a coalition government with the Conservatives. Under the agreement Lib Dem MPs can still abstain.
However, former party leaders Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy are among those thought likely to vote with Labour against the change when it goes before the Commons.
The National Union of Students is promising to campaign directly against Lib Dem MPs who back the fees increase, arguing that the change will deter people from poorer backgrounds from going to university.
Lord Ashdown told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What we're doing is going through a process and this is all out in the open, [and] being done without rancour, which is very important to hold the party together.
"I personally think that Nick has handled this with great wisdom and a good deal of courage. It's not the first time when the Liberal Democrats have taken, in the short term, unpopular decision that they believe to be right which has delivered benefit in the long term."
In coalition, there were "some things you like and some things you don't like", Lord Ashdown said.
'Not listening' He added: "Although there is a commitment that has been made during the election, there is another agreement we have to stick to which is the coalition agreement. That says at the very least you will abstain on this, vote for it if you can."
He accepted it would be several years before the Lib Dems saw any benefit from taking an "unpopular" decision, saying: "At the moment they (the public) are just not listening. Nick could deliver the Sermon on the Mount. They are just not listening."
Lib Dem backbench MP Greg Mulholland is pushing for the vote to be called off, so that a full public consultation on the future of university funding in England can be carried out ahead of a government white paper in 2011.
He said: "There are very, very few who will support this motion. There are a few considering whether to abstain or vote against. But there are already a notable number who have decided that they will vote against this if it comes to it.
"And they are also saying, as I am, that really we shouldn't be going ahead with this because we've got ourselves into a mess and they only way out of this is to not have a vote on Thursday."
The fees policy has been framed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is led by Lib Dem Vince Cable. He has said he will vote in favour of it on Thursday.
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