Richard Harmer

Just insatiable

[Richard Harmer @Rich_Harmer]

@England @FIFAWorldCup Needs sacking after that, awful managing

[The Man in Seat 61 @seatsixtyone]

DON'T BUY TRAIN TICKETS IN ADVANCE!
On 1 April, govt is quietly changing the National Rail Conditions of Travel.
Off-Peak & Anytime tickets become non-refundable after 23:59 the day BEFORE you travel.
If you wake up & find your event cancelled, NO REFUNDS, even on £100+ tickets.

[Charlie Moloney @CharlieMoloney]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen an interview where a government minister has so clearly laid out that student loans are now being used as a way to raise additional money for other public expenditure, rather than just a way to make grads pay for their own education

[Cllr Lauren Davison 🌹🍒🐆 @CllrDavison]

They do need to sort student loans out. I won’t go into my salary but I pay 40% tax bracket and I’m still not touching my loan interest (my loans are high because I got maximum for coming from a low income family)

At what point do we call it what it is - penalisation of ambition

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

The govt's Student Loan Plan 2 repayment freeze in April 2027 must be reversed. It isn't moral.

I'm concerned that my debate with Kemi Badenoch this morning distracts from the most immediate problem. In April 2027 Rachel Reeves will freeze the Plan 2 student loan threshold until 2030 which by then will increase graduate repayments by £300/yr more.

This is effectively a unilateral negative breach of the student loan contract. Students were told the threshold would rise with average earnings. No commercial lender would be allowed to do this. The govt shouldn't do it either.

Changing the terms of future students loans is a political decision - people may not like it but it is transparent. Negatively changing the terms of contracts already signed, and long in place, is a breach of natural justice.

[Iain Mansfield @IGMansfield]

87% of graduates say the maximum 6.2% interest rates on Plan 2 loans are unfair.

They're right: it was actively designed to trap even grads who get good jobs in debt they can never pay off.

The mis-selling to 18 year olds - often for a product of dubious value - was appalling.

[Nick, 30 @an0n_Nic]

As one of the 85% can confirm this loan is one of the scummiest things to ever happen by the state. At the time they were introduced rates were barely 1.5%, somehow we are left paying 9%.

[Richard Harmer @Rich_Harmer]

Peterborough were dead and buried a couple months back, realised they needed change, sacked the manager and now sit 7 points off play offs, getting into protest territory for us #wafc

[Soph @SophieMcDLaw]

The injustice of student loans in the UK should not be under appreciated. Those of us on Plan 2 (2012 onwards) are facing a life much much worse off than any other generation before us. Abolish student loans!

[Dr Luke Craddock @DrLukeCraddock]

My generation have been saddled with a 9% graduate tax, further adding to our tax burden, which is at a 70 year high already.

From £28k we have a marginal tax rate of 41%, which increases to 51% after £50k, and to 71% after £100k.

Its crippling productivity. Why work?

[Oli Dugmore @OliDugmore]

The combined tuition fees of the entire Question Time panel would not cover my cost for 1 year of uni.

Is that fair?

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Lady in blue, "Will student loans be the next misselling scandal?" #BBCQT

Oli Dugmore, "My three year course, £9,000 a year for the tuition, on top of that a maintenance loan, I left uni with £37,500 of debt"

"From the day I was charged RPI interest"

"Since I went to uni in 2012, the amount of interest I have accrued is £32,000"

"Was it missold to me when I was told it would cost me £9,000 a year? Yes"

"On top of that its a regressive system"

"If you're wealthy enough to pay the fees up front, you don't get charged interest - if you're rich enough you don't pay the same as me"

"The government changed the terms of the agreement, I call that loan sharking"

Fiona Bruce, "How else would you pay for university?"

Oli Dugmore, "How did you guys pay for it?"

"The state paid for it, didn't they?"

Fiona Bruce, "They did"

Oli Dugmore, "Good enough for you, good enough for me?"

[Curtis Daly @CurtisDaly_]

If someone proposed the NHS today, Rachel Reeves would oppose it

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

Pressure is mounting on the government over the affordability of student loans, after a decision by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to freeze the earnings threshold where graduates begin repayments.

[camilo @AscendedYield]

If university delivered what it promises young people, namely a path to higher pay over their working lives, we would not need a graduate tax. The entire tax system is already progressive. Graduates who outearn non-graduates pay more in income tax and national insurance over their careers and draw less from the state in unemployment benefits and other support.

The fact that a graduate tax is even being discussed is an admission that the degree is not delivering the earnings premium that justifies its cost.

[Ben Kentish @BenKentish]

✍️ READ: My @theipaper column today on why Rachel Reeves’ defence of the scandalous student loan system betrays young people - and might prove to be her biggest mistake yet.

[LBC @LBC]

Nearly half of Brits support Government writing off at least some student debt
https://t.co/AfE0jvHhr9

[LBC @LBC]

'It's not a loan, it's a graduate tax, and a bad one at that!'

Housing secretary Steve Reed admits student loans have 'features of a graduate tax' after tense exchange with @Lewis_Goodall.

[George Eaton @georgeeaton]

Marginal tax rates for graduates with student loans – add interest and another 6% for postgrads.

£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%

This issue – I first wrote about it in 2021 – is now beginning to get the political attention it deserves.