Student Loans

Danny Beales Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott]

My right hon. Friend is quite right: not only did Labour mislead the public, but it then made things worse. Now, Labour Members will not vote to fix it. That is Labour all over.

We need a plan to fix the problem, but it is not enough to fiddle with one part of the problem. We need comprehensive change, and that is exactly what we Conservatives have come up with: a new deal for young people. The plan, which could be implemented today, would reverse the threshold freeze, make interest rates for plan 2 loans inflation-only, stop dead-end degrees, and boost apprenticeships so that young people have real choice when they leave school, not a future weighed down by debt.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

The right hon. Lady talks about a comprehensive plan and giving people choices, but this is not a comprehensive plan for student loan reform; it is a plan written on the back of a fag packet. It basically revolves around restricting university access, which is always the go-to solution for the Conservatives. In truth, it will mean that people like me—I was the first person in my family to go to university—will not get to go to university. People who go to Brunel University in my constituency will face restrictions in course levels. That is not a widening of opportunity and choice, but a restriction of them.

[Laura Trott]

No, the plan would massively widen choice. At the moment, the number of young people who want to start apprenticeships is much smaller than the number of apprenticeships available—we need to change that and the system. It is not good enough for the Government to table an amendment to our motion stating that they will make the system fairer and financially sustainable, when they are making it less fair and less financially sustainable.

At the moment, the system is punishing aspiration, and that is demoralising for young people. They leave university having done everything that was asked of them. They work hard and get a promotion, and then the interest on their loan goes up. They pay back far more than they ever borrowed. A typical plan 2 graduate needs to earn £66,000 a year just to keep pace with the interest. Young people should not be punished for doing the right thing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rosie Wrighting]

There are many levers that this Government can pull to make life better for graduates. I understand that, given the economic situation, some of those levers are easier to pull than others. I am glad that measures such as the Renters’ Rights Act 2026 are coming forward and making a difference for my generation every single day. I have voiced my view that the system is not fair and that I would like my Government to look at it, and I think that that has been heard.

Let me return to what I was saying. We want to be able to live in a home that we are not worried we will get kicked out of, and even one day not to have to live with strangers or parents. We want to be able to make the choice to have a child if that is right, and to decide to go on holiday without maxing out our credit cards. I do not think that that is asking too much. That is hope and aspiration. I want to live in a country where it is reasonable for ordinary young people to want those things and, more importantly, to think that they are achievable.

Of all the damage that the Conservatives did, one of the worst things for me was the damage to hope. I started university in 2016. My tuition fees were £9,000 a year, but my maintenance loan was £12,000 a year. I am now paying back more not because my education cost more, but because I came from a low-income family and needed that support to live.

[Danny Beales]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. This place is much better for her presence, speaking up for people in her situation. It sounds like we had a similar background, but I was fortunate enough to be on a plan 1 system and, under a Labour Government, benefited not only from an educational maintenance allowance to stay on at sixth form, but from grants as well as loans. It sounds like she was not able to benefit from that because of the Conservative party. Does she agree that the restoring of maintenance grants and the uplifting of maintenance loans to match the cost of living will benefit people who come from backgrounds such as ours?

[Rosie Wrighting]

I do not think it has been talked about enough in this debate, or in the debate more widely, just how much is added on for students who have to take out a large maintenance loan because they come from a low-income family. I thank my hon. Friend for raising that.

When maintenance grants were scrapped by the Conservatives, that cost did not disappear.