I spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on student loans which was widely covered in the media. I have had several constituents on Plan Two student loans contact me to say that they have barely made a dent in their student loan debt, despite working continuously and paying back at high rates. Indeed, many have seen their overall debt increase. This is a familiar story across the UK since the trebling of tuition fees under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government. Changing the terms of a repayment after a contract has been agreed is fundamentally wrong.

This is less a loan and more a lifetime surcharge that disproportionately hits people on middle and lower incomes. It’s not, as some suggest, a graduate tax and it’s not fair. The fairest way to fund higher education would be the abolition of tuition fees, with the system instead funded through progressive taxation. At a bare minimum, the inveterate unfairness of the current system must be addressed. That means reversing the repayment threshold freeze, capping interest rates much lower and protecting those who take out student loans against retrospective changes.