London - The Labour government set the stage yesterday for a confrontation with the Conservative-dominated House of Lords over student tuition fees, which could speed up its plans for reform of the unelected upper house.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said the government would use its majority in the House of Commons to overturn an amendment passed by the House of Lords last week to its Teaching and Higher Education Bill.
The Lords amendment, passed by a big cross-party majority of 319 votes to 108, would ensure that English students attending Scottish universities would pay no more in tuition fees than their Scottish counterparts.
