The coalition government was close to abolishing fees in 2010 and introducing a "graduate contribution system", the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has claimed.
The Liberal Democrats have adopted a motion to build cross-party consensus around large increases to the science and research budget, and to press for a public loans system for postgraduates.
Vince Cable, the business secretary, has admitted the government made mistakes in the way it presented tuition fees and in part blamed Lord Browne's 2010 review of university funding for the problem.
