Lord Browne, who earned £2.5 million a year as chief of BP, has said that tuition fees “have not deterred” people from entering into higher education. The official review of University financing could see the "cap" on how much can be charged lifted, leaving the cost of tuition fees to rise from £3500 to £7000 or higher per year.

According to reports Lord Browne does not seem to think this is a problem: “It would be like worrying about how many taxes you pay in your lifetime if you worried about these loans. And most people don’t worry about that”.

The comments have been condemned by Liberal Youth, the youth and student wing of the Liberal Democrats, who believe that tuition fees should never have been introduced, and certainly should not be raised.

Alan Belmore, acting Chair of Liberal Youth, and one of the youngest Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for any of the main political parties said: "Mandelson has made a huge mistake in giving this task to Browne. Students are being punished with extortionate debts for wanting further education."

"He claims that people don’t worry about paying taxes - I suppose I wouldn’t worry about them if I was a multi-millionaire either. These attitudes show just how far removed from reality this man is."

Liberal Youth praised their party for being the only party committed to abolishing tuition fees. Nick Clegg has already pledged that his party “will have the best, most progressive package for students of any mainstream party".

Notes to Editors:

1. Liberal Youth is a ‘Specified Associate Organisation’ of the Liberal Democrat Party and acts as its autonomous youth & student wing. More info can be found at www.liberalyouth.org.

2. According to the Push.co.uk independent survey, students entering University today will graduate with £23,500 of debt when they graduate. More information can be found at www.push.co.uk

3. More information about Liberal Democrat education policy can be found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/education.aspx