to the minister for universities and science, my right honorable friend the member for havant (mr willettss i say it now, that there are indeed many progressive things in the proposals. the levels at which graduates will have to make a contribution, the measures for part-time students and the £21,000 threshold are very welcome. i fully acknowledge all those things, but we need to debunk a myth. all those positive things, which are in the proposals and are progressive in terms of the graduate contribution, do not need to be tied to a huge increase in fees. that is simply a non sequitur. it is simply not true to say, "you cannot have one without the other," and that is the crucial flaw in the government's argument today. the secretary of state knows, and we all know, that there is much confusion about the proposals, but is that not another reason to have more time for the government to try to convince people? he and all ministers who support the proposals today have to accept that they have not won the argument, and rushing things through, given the concern and anxiety about how it has been