@antoguerrera The article is relaying an interview from Barnier on his opinion. Not stating it is the authoritative response from EU member states, and most people who read The Guardian understand this.
@OneFinanceGuy I am no fan of Reform, but it is incorrect to say that an investment bank will not allow you to establish/found a company. So long as you declare it. I did the same in 2006, 2 years before I left, as an M&A banker.
@afneil People forget the state of public finances that was inherited by the Government in 2010, with a budget deficit running at over 10% and then the Covid shock in 2020 and 2021.
@KemiBadenoch@Conservatives Kemi, I am afraid you have been misinformed. The Government may be using as a tax raising revenue measure, but it is a progressive and fair tax. It is not a loan. If it was a simple 9% graduate tax above a threshold for 30 years more people would get the concept.
@lewis_goodall No, it is not. Your opinion is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the system. It is a tax, not a loan, that has a potential expiry date if the associated obligation is extinguished. And increasing the coupon is progressive.
@BBCNewsnight On the contrary, the repayment of a poorer student does not change! The length of time that tax is paid for middle and higher income students increases, therefore making it even more progressive.
@BBCNewsnight The student loan is a tax with a corresponding liability that does not need to be repaid. The higher interest makes the tax more progressive, not less.
@lewis_goodall Student loans are a tax, not a loan. There is no obligation to clear it, payment is a fixed 9% of income above a threshold, which makes it progressive. The interest is linked to income. If the Government taxed graduates at 9% above a threshold forever, no one would complain.
@DavidDavisMP Also, those who pay it off early are paying more from a present value perspective versus those who are not. The interest (should) reflect the cost of funding, which incorporates the cost of those that do not pay it.
@DavidDavisMP David, the problem is that the student loan is viewed as a loan when it is a tax, which can be terminated once the underlying liability is cleared before the 30 year term. Irrespective of the level of positive interest (>0%), there always be graduates that will never pay it off