Sir Keir Starmer was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last Friday whether, if he achieved his goal for the UK to attain the highest sustained growth in the G7, he would readopt plans to scrap university tuition fees. He had committed to their abolition when running to be Labour leader in 2020, but dropped the policy last year because he said money was tight. Mishal Husain’s question exposed a contradiction in Sir Keir’s plans: the argument that he ditched his tuition-fee pledge to prioritise the NHS melted away if higher public spending could be financed by faster economic growth. Sir Keir parried, leaving the issue unresolved.
On Monday, Labour’s leader sought to further deflect from his rowback by leaving the door open to raising fees. Polling suggests that would be unpopular. Many voters might not want English university education to be free, but most want to see the cost reduced. Last year, Public First suggested that cutting fees to between £6,000 and £7,500 was the most popular option. Sir Keir was first elected to the Commons in 2015 on a Labour manifesto pledge to trim fees to such levels, with universities’ income made up through increased state support. But it would not be lost on him that even though his party had won the argument, Labour lost that election.
