Ja well no so fine, as we say in South Africa.There are about 15 student benches in the workshop and if I look under each of them we would find either a Clifton plane or a Lie Nielsen plane. We have had Veritas planes in the workshop, they were fashionable at one time, but we have had real problems with them maintaining absolute flatness of the sole over a period of time. This may well have been a manufacturing problem that they've overcome but we haven't seen more recently manufactured planes in order to test them so we cannot recommend Veritas at the moment.
The other crucial element to consider is the blade. Lie Nielsen offers an A2 cryogenically treated blade. This, in my experience, is a blade which will hold an edge for a very long time. However it will not take as sharp an edge as I would like. I've spent over 30 years working with high carbon steel blades. In my experience they take a much sharper edge than is possible with the A2 steel. A high carbon steel edge is keener, more sharp, but it needs sharpening more often. The very best blades for planes, in my opinion, are manufactured by Clifton. These are forged welded high carbon steel blades that come close to the qualities of the very best Sheffield steel.
Clifton bench planes made in Sheffield are less expensive than the Lie Nielsen equivalent. I see students every year buying Lie Nielson simply because it is more expensive. They think by paying a little more they getting a better tool. I think they're mistaken. If I were buying bench planes now they would all be made by Clifton.