Keir Starmer is accused of breaking ‘gold-plated promise’ over plans to hike university tuition fees by more than £1000 _ Hieuuk
Labour is drawing up plans to hike university tuition fees by more than £1,000 – even though Sir Keir Starmer once promised to scrap them.
Ministers are understood to be looking at raising the £9,250-a-year charge in line with inflation, meaning it could hit £10,500 in five years.
Details of the planned increase emerged as universities pleaded for more cash to keep themselves viable.
But it also comes four years after Sir Keir won the Labour leadership on pledges including supporting abolition of the fees – only to abandon that promise last year.
Last night, one Labour MP told The Mail on Sunday privately: ‘This is not just another promise broken by Starmer. It’s a gold-plated broken promise to hike a charge you promised to get rid of.’
Winning the Labour leadership four years ago, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to abolish university tuition fees, but the Government are now expected to hike them by £1,000
Last week, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson made clear that she would prefer not to hike university fees
The move could increase tuition fees, which have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, to £10,500 by 2029
To soften the plans, Labour is promising to protect poorer students by restoring maintenance grants, which were worth up to £3,500 until the Conservatives
Last week, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson made clear that she would prefer not to hike university fees, which have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017.
She told LBC: ‘It’s not something that I want to go to, but I do recognise that over time the value of the fee has eroded. It hasn’t gone up in a very long time.’
The current system was ‘the worst of all worlds’, she added.
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Reports today said there was a ‘live’ discussion over hiking the fees, with a Whitehall source describing the current system as ‘unsustainable’.
The fee hike – equivalent to a 13.5 per cent rise over five years – was described as one of ‘several options being considered’ by the Department for Education (DfE).
An announcement is expected before the Government’s spending review in April.
Four out of ten universities are expected to report a deficit for this year amid warnings that many lose money teaching UK students.
Numbers for foreign students – who pay higher fees and have become increasingly financially important to universities – have fallen this year.
Earlier this month, the BBC reported that Universities UK, which represents 141 universities, wanted a fee rise in line with inflation and more Government investment to ensure that the sector ‘does not slide into decline’.
When he was Leader of the Opposition last year, Sir Keir justified dropping the tuition fee abolition pledge because of the ‘different financial situation’ the country was in.
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said the hike would make it ‘impossible’ for many students to save for a house after graduating, adding: ‘Many will question whether it’s worth it’
Last night, senior Tory MP Neil O’Brien said: ‘This will take the total cost of a typical course including maintenance to around £60,000.
‘To fund all this, young people are ending up paying what are effectively punitive rates of tax which make it impossible to save for a house. Many will question whether it’s worth it.’
A DfE spokesman said: ‘The Government is committed to reviewing the higher education funding system to deliver for our economy, for universities and for students.
‘We believe every young person, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to attend university. That’s why we are dedicated to creating a sustainable higher-education funding system that supports students and expands opportunities.’
