The Lib Dem Phil Willis has attacked Labour's record on education with a stinging attack on its policies for students.

In an interview with this website, Willis said the Lib Dems would undo the damage Labour has done to higher education.

He said Labour's decision to introduce tuition fees was an "abomination" and pledged to scrap them.

"The idea of putting a tuition fee at the gates of every university, at the gates of learning, is something which we feel is totally abhorrent in a liberal society," said Willis.

The Lib Dems would develop an endowment system to fund higher education, the party's education spokesman said.

"We would abolish tuition fees. We would, however, restore grants for the poorest of students - under the Scottish Cubie style arrangement," said Willis.

"And what we've said is that when students graduate from university, they would pay an endowment back into the system which would support the next load of students in terms of their grants and student support."

He praised David Blunkett's approach, but was critical of the policies he pursued.

"I think David Blunkett has been an outstanding secretary of state, in terms of the way he has worked, and the commitment he's had to education. My problem lies with some of the ideas that David Blunkett has peddled over the last four years," he said.

Willis said Blunkett, now tipped for the Home Office, was "misguided" in pursuing new Labour's education policy..

"I think that his target obsession in mainstream schools has been misguided, but I would not criticise, nor would I deflect from the fact, that I feel that David Blunkett will go down as one of the most notable of Secretaries of State but who's squandered the opportunities that he was given," said Willis.