Labour party set to ditch free university tuition pledge

Paul Seddon 05 May 2023

Labour is set to abandon its promise to scrap university tuition fees in England if it wins power, its leader has said, reports Paul Seddon for BBC News. Sir Keir Starmer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the party was “likely to move on from that commitment”, blaming the economic backdrop.

The Labour leader pledged to support getting rid of fees in his 2020 leadership campaign. But he now said the party was looking at alternative options for funding.

He added that the current fees system, of £9,250 (US$11,500) a year, was “unfair” and “doesn’t work for students, and doesn’t work for universities”. The Labour leader first indicated the policy would be scrapped in a BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg earlier this year. According to the Times, he will confirm the reversal at a speech later this month.
Full report on the BBC News site

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