BBC's Victoria Derbyshire Tears Into Minister Over 'Outrageous' Student Loan Repayments

Victoria Derbyshire tore into the school standards minister over the government’s “outrageous” approach to student loan repayments.

Labour unilaterally changed the terms of the student loans in the last Budget in November.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves froze the salary threshold at which graduates start to repay what they owe, meaning more of them are hit with charges earlier. 

Interviewing education minister Georgia Gould on BBC Newsnight, Derbyshire said the changes are “outrageous”.

Gould replied: “This is a system that we’ve inherited.”

But the presenter cut in: “No no no, you didn’t inherit the freezing of the repayment threshold. You did that in the last Budget. That was a choice!”

“It’s not a perfect system, we really acknowledge that,” Gould replied. “We face huge pressures as a government, as I was talking about, the investments we’re making in supporting some of the vulnerable children that are really critically important, we have to make tough choices, because we inherited some difficult systems.”

“So it’s alright to change the terms of their loan unilaterally without consultation, without pre-warning because graduates are paying for other vulnerable groups?” Derbyshire asked.

Gould said the repayment system would be kept under review, noting: “I completely acknowledge that this is a group who have not been the focus of investment over years.”

She said that’s why the government was investing in housebuilding, private renters and childcare.

Derbyshire replied: “The interest charged on student loans is based on the RPI measure of inflation.

“As you know, the government doesn’t even use RPI [Retail Price Index] because you think it overrates inflation. Why is it not good enough, but good enough for students and graduates?”

“I acknowledge it’s not a perfect system,” the minister replied. “But we are in a time when there are so many challenges for our public services, we don’t have the resources to invest in absolutely everything. We have to make choices.”

Derbyshire said: “But you talk about fairness – that’s not fair is it? As a government, you don’t even use RPI.”

Watch the full exchange below: