@MattLismore Education has public benefits, but it isn’t a public good in the economic sense. It’s excludable, rivalrous, and delivers large private returns. That’s why the real question is about how much subsidy is justified, not whether taxpayers should simply fund it outright.
@Anisocyte@WoollerEmma@opaqueentity That wasn’t your original point - I think Emma and I have both challenged your statement that banks routinely consider your student loan balance during the mortgage application process, and we’re yet to see any evidence of this.
@Anisocyte@WoollerEmma@opaqueentity My overall student loan balance has no real bearing on my affordability, but the monthly amount I pay does. Have you got any examples of lenders who consider loan balance (not monthly payment) as part of their lending criteria, as I can’t find any?
@Anisocyte@WoollerEmma@opaqueentity Of course it makes a “dent”, in the same way that any sustained repayment of debt does.
Does it make a “huge” impact on what you can borrow though?
Also, I’m not convinced that it’s standard practice for lenders to ask about your remaining loan balance.
@Anisocyte@WoollerEmma@opaqueentity If you’re paying £400pcm, you’re earning a pre-tax income of c.£80k. I wouldn’t say that a net £4800 reduction of this per annum makes a “huge difference” in affordability assessments.
@bobdylansbarber@StigAbell The existence of the Whip makes this concrete, not theoretical. Most meaningful votes are whipped. Voters elect an MP to support a programme and a governing bloc. Switching parties alters that mandate and should be tested with voters.
@LaurenPeeJay@FreddyQuinne Behavioural challenges can surface useful insights, but failure alone isn’t evidence of dependence. The relationship people have with alcohol is far more nuanced than a binary pass/fail.
@UKnightkin80486@GinnyA24601 The idea that university only matters if it teaches a single vocation misses the entire point of higher education. Skills, signalling, and opportunity compound over decades.