LABOUR should stop dithering and reintroduce free university education, lecturers’ union UCU urged yesterday after ultra-Blairite peer Lord Mandelson said reducing fees would “achieve nothing and do a lot of damage.”

In a speech to a private meeting of university vice-chancellors, the former Labour Cabinet minister said the increase in fees had not “dented aspiration.”

“Participation levels have risen from every level of British society, including the most disadvantaged. Higher fee levels have not undermined this,” Mr Mandelson (right) said.

In 2011 Labour leader Ed Miliband announced plans to reduce fees to £6,000 a year from the current £9,000 — but hinted that a more radical plan could be announced before the election.

Mr Miliband has stayed quiet on the issue in the past year, and has recently suggested an in-depth announcement could be made in the next few weeks.

Put on the spot in a student meeting recently, shadow universities minister Liam Byrne said: “Obviously I would love free education. I would want it to be free just like the NHS, but I’m not going to make a promise that is not deliverable.”

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt branded Lord Mandelson’s intervention an “embarrassment” and called for Labour to “make clear its policy” to avoid “accusations of opportunism.”

“If we are to continue to thrive as a global academic power, we need stable funding and if we are to ensure that everyone who would benefit from higher education is able to attend, we need to follow Germany’s example and make tuition free,” she said.