Martin Lewis could fix student loan crisis

The Conservatives are currently pushing forward with a policy they argue will begin to address the student loans crisis crippling adults across the country. Party leader Kemi Badenoch insists that reducing the amount paid by plan 2 students is the way to do it. However, Martin Lewis slammed Badenoch for this selective and poorly thought-through policy on Good Morning Britain (GMB) yesterday morning.

Last night, historian Sir Anthony Seldon told Victoria Derbyshire that Lewis had his full support. Going further, Seldon argued all student debt should be wiped, rejecting the idea that any course is a “dead end” for young people. Finally, the respected historian urged the government to bring in the ‘Money Saving Expert’ to fix the system within a record four weeks.

This highlights that politicians can find solutions when they choose to act, and it shows that resolving the student loans crisis depends on political decisions, not inevitability.

Martin Lewis is right

We wrote yesterday about Lewis’ masterclass on GMB in challenging an MP. The money saving expert ran holes through Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s latest policy billed to address the student debt crisis. Don’t get me wrong, as a plan 2 myself, I support her plans to wipe student debt. But there is much more to be done, as Martin Lewis rightly pointed out.

We wrote yesterday:

On Good Morning Britain, money saving expert Martin Lewis pushed back firmly against Kemi Badenoch. Pointing out her blatant oversight, Lewis confronted her misguided approach to the student loan crisis affecting workers across the country. In doing so, Lewis gave a master class in how politicians should be rigorously challenged on policies that impact working people’s everyday lives.

Rather than accepting the Tories headline-grabbing promises, he instead pressed for meaningful solutions. In fact, his challenge was so robust that he managed to get Kemi’s commitment to a direct discussion focused on reforms that would genuinely benefit students.

Contrary to the Conservatives’ policy being dangled like a carrot to voters, historian Anthony Seldon has called for all student debt to be wiped. He went further, urging the government to accept that it must stop treating students as a source of profit. Instead, Seldon argued that they already contribute to the economy through the skills and expertise they develop at university.

Furthermore, Seldon emphasised that higher education is about far more than achieving high grades or obtaining a certificate. After all, it is a formative experience where young people develop vital life and social skills. Also, it’s essential for improving critical analysis skills with young people engaging in progressive, informed debate.

Basically, university education adds quality and value to people’s lives. Unless that value is stripped away by exorbitant interest rates on impossible levels of debt, of course.

Scrap all student debt: no hierarchies

This issue once again exposes how neoliberals within British society have persistently structured the system to advantage some groups over others. As a result, we have seen entrenching hierarchies in both access and opportunity, whilst inequality soars. Badenoch’s proposed fix would only deepen resentment and fuel anger among young people. After all, we understand that pain and frustration are relative to the individual. However, in this case, that pain is being felt by huge swathes of the population, not confined to a narrow few on Plan 2.

As Seldon and Lewis astutely argue, any solution that is not universal merely kicks the can further down the road. Student loans would remain a source of profit, while the government would continue to risk disenfranchising young people from the opportunity to connect, collaborate and grow alongside their peers.

Featured image via the Canary