Education
A Government Spokesperson Said Ministers Are "Already Taking Decisive Action" to Make the System Fairer
More than 120 MPs and peers have urged Chancellor John Healey to launch an "urgent review" of the student loan repayment system, warning it places an unsustainable burden on the next generation of workers. The open letter, coordinated by campaign group Rethink Repayment, has cross-party signatories, including MPs with their own Plan 2 loans.
The letter criticizes successive governments' adjustments to repayment thresholds, high interest, and marginal tax rates, noting many middle-income graduates "see less than half of any hard-earned pay rise. It references last November's decision by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves to freeze the Plan 2 repayment threshold at £29,385 between 2027 and 2030, which campaigners want reversed. The Treasury select committee echoed this call after its inquiry, referencing a BBC investigation that found government presentations compared repayments to £30-a-month phone contracts, which the committee called "mis-selling.
Signatories include shadow education secretary Laura Trott and Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson. Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon said he expects his own debt to be written off after 30 years, questioning fairness: "If someone earning an MP's salary still isn't likely to repay their student loan in full, what chance does someone on a much lower income have? Rethink Repayment founder Oliver Gardner said the issue is not partisan. A government spokesperson said ministers are "already taking decisive action to make the system fairer.
Source: BBC Education
