High-profile anti-tuition fees Labour MP Diane Abbott has been urged to repay £1,750 to the University of Birmingham after she charged for a speech to undergraduates.
Students reacted with anger after learning that the university paid out the four-figure sum to Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, for her 50-minute talk to students.
An online petition received more than 100 signatures in under an hour and pressure is mounting for the long-standing MP to respond to criticism of her actions.
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Although the speech was in 2011, it only came to light this week, and sparked outrage because Ms Abbott has been a fierce opponent of charging students tuition fees.
Alex Blackburn, recent University of Birmingham graduate, said: “As founder and President of a University of Birmingham society, I have hosted numerous politicians and other high-profile guests and none have asked for a single penny in return.
“Charging students £1,750 for a 50-minute university speech is a gross insult to all British students.
“This could have paid for half a year’s tuition at the time, which calls into question her opposition to the raising of tuition fees.
“Diane Abbott is correct when she says that “there are thousands of young people every year who cannot afford their university fees.
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“It is time, however, for her to put her money where her mouth is and repay the money she wrongfully took from hard-pressed students.”
University of Birmingham Head of the Department of Political Science and International Studies David Dunn said in an email to students that normal accounting procedures had been followed.
Professor Dunn said: “It is important to understand the context of this event. As its name implies this was a student run event. The idea was to give the students a budget to let them manage every aspect of the process.
“So it was the student conference committee who drew up a list of speakers and contacted Diane Abbott. They wanted someone who had been on TV to draw in an audience.
“Other speakers who were suggested charged more, Jon Snow charged £7000, Karen Brady charged £12,000, so when they contacted Diane Abbott she looked cheap by comparison.”
The online petition says: “The vast majority of university societies host high-profile guests and it is very rare that they ever ask for a single penny in return, let alone a four-figure sum. I call on Diane Abbott to repay the £1,750 to the University of Birmingham, which is to be put to use for educational purposes within the university.”
Critics of the MP say charging students sharply contradicts her stance on tuition fees. She was one of the rebel Labour MPs who defied Tony Blair in voting against the introduction of fees in 2004.
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She has also voiced opposition to the recent rise of student fees to £9,000, saying: “I believe that the introduction in this way of a crude market mechanism into higher education is wrong.”
The politician’s views on free education also came under the spotlight when it emerged in 2003 that she had enrolled her son in a £10,000 a year private school.
Signatories to the online petition included David Careless of Hove, who said: “Rank hypocrisy of this MP who does not back student charges but goes on to charge them to enrich herself.”
Ian Michie of Leicestershire said: “A Labour MP charging students for a speaking engagement is just wrong.”
Barry McCanna said: “It’s a further example of Diane Abbott’s hypocrisy (not that she’s a lone MP in that regard).”
A spokeswoman for Ms Abbott’s office said the MP was currently away and was unavailable to comment on the criticism.