Politics
Students hit by ‘graduate tax’ and Derbyshire misses the point
On BBC, Victoria Derbyshire interviewed a university graduate who shared his experience with lofty student finance repayments. Pointing out how much he has paid in ‘a few years’ of working, Derbyshire asked if comfort is found in the knowledge that the public fleecing ends after 30 years.
The privileged elder misses the point that 30 years of accumulating interest will drive repayments far beyond the original loan, generating a significant profit for the state.
This incident exposes how the establishment is perfectly willing to squeeze more money out of young people to boost public coffers, all while claiming that there are ‘too many options’ available to prospective students. At the same time, they refuse to consider measures like a wealth tax, arguing that the richest would simply leave.
When quality education leads to better jobs, stronger economic growth, and ultimately higher tax revenues, the double standard becomes clear. The state targets those trapped within the system for profit, while avoiding any serious effort to make the rich and powerful contribute more.
A country that does this to its smart, ambitious young people deserves to fail. It’s no deeper than that.
The grim truth is large parts of the political and media class have hated young people for a long time now. Generation PAYE-pig.
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) February 25, 2026
Captive students: Low-hanging fruit
Recently on Good Morning Britain, Martin Lewis successfully challenged Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on her attempt to revise student loan repayment Plan 2 as a solution to the student debt crisis. The money-saving expert rightfully pointed out it would be easing things slightly for one group, whilst ignoring all others. This prompted widespread debate with graduates across the country supporting Lewis’ calls to wipe student debt that is creating a deadweight effect on workers in the economy.
A highly lucrative deadweight that was clearly pointed out by Max in the interview, which went as follows:
Victoria Derbyshire: Let me ask you then, Max, how much did you borrow in total?
Max: So, I borrowed £84,000 in total, and that’s about half tuition fee, and the rest maintenance loans that you need to live on and pay your rent whilst you’re there and so on.
Derbyshire: And how much have you paid back so far?
Max: I’ve paid back about £8,000 over the past few years that I’ve been working.
Derbyshire: And how much do you owe now?
Max: £110,000.
Derbyshire: Oh, my God.
Max: Yeah.
Derbyshire: What does that feel like?
Max: Well, I mean, it feels ridiculous because I know I’m never going to be able to pay that back. So for me, this is no longer a student loan. It’s a lifelong graduate tax.
Derbyshire: Right. Do you take any comfort in the fact that after 30 years, if you haven’t paid it back, it’s wiped out?
Max: Well, I feel like that’s a bit of a misconception because the fact that people end up not clearing their debt within 30 years actually means they end up paying for longer because the interest rates are so high and they’re often going to end up paying more than they actually borrowed. So you’re trapped.
Derbyshire: Right. That’s how it feels.
Max: Yeah.
Derbyshire appears to ignore the fact that if Max continues at his current repayment rate, without any future pay rises increasing his contributions, his repayment would be at least £88k. This shows he will still repay the full cost of his original loans and then some over 30 years. Therefore, the expiration date of this unavoidable “student tax” offers no comfort when it only signals the conclusion of exploitative interest charges.
After all, education is an investment in the future of the economy. Seeing it as a source of profit instead is counterproductive and just works to undervalue graduates.
Our youth are not the ‘magic money tree’
Since Lewis’ principled and informed intervention, others with specialised insight into university education have spoken out. Historian and former university head Sir Anthony Seldon even argued that Lewis should take on a four-week role to fix the mess former Labour and Conservative governments created.
We wrote:
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.
The neoliberal state will likely continue to insist there is ‘no magic money tree’ to address the scale of underfunding across society. Yet at the same time, the wealth of the richest has soared at record-breaking rates. Therefore, those who once benefited from free education now resist asking the wealthiest to contribute their fair share in taxes. Instead, they continue to target the easy pickings — students striving for opportunity and a better life.
The government have stated they will ‘look at ways to make it fairer’. Easy. Deploy wealth taxes to ease the burdens facing graduates and students across the country.
Featured image via Green Country