Labour aim of abolishing student debt 'would cost £100bn', party admits

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It will cost £100bn to fulfil Jeremy Corbyn’s aim of scrapping current student debt, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary has admitted.

Angela Rayner said the policy remained an “ambition” because Labour does not know how it could be funded.

Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show how much the plan would cost, she said: “It’s a huge amount – it’s £100bn, which they estimate currently. It’s a huge amount of money. But we also know that a third of that is never repaid.

“But we’ve got to start dealing with this debt crisis that we’re foisting on our young people. They’re leaving university with £57,000 worth of debt. It’s completely unsustainable and we’ve got to start tackling that.

Ms Rayner, an ally of Mr Corbyn, called on ministers to reduce the student debt burden by reversing the abolition of maintenance grants, reducing the interest rate on debt and raising the threshold at which repayments must be made.

Last month, just days before the general election, Jeremy Corbyn said he was “looking at ways” to reduce current student debt.

He told NME magazine: “I don’t see why those that had the historical misfortune to be at university during the £9,000 period should be burdened excessively compared to those that went before or those that will come after. I will deal with it.”

Asked how such a policy might be funded, Ms Rayner said: “Jeremy said that’s an ambition – it’s something he’d like to do. It’s something we will not announce that we’re doing unless we can afford to do that.

Labour has also vowed to abolish tuition fees – a policy it says will cost £9.5bn.

Ms Rayner also had firm words for those in her party who are talking of "deselecting" MPs who are not considered fully supportive of Jeremy Corbyn.

She said those talking of deselection, which include new MP Chris Williamson, should think about "who are the real enemy”.

"I don't like anything in the Labour family that disenfranchises any part of our movement. We are a big movement and we’re all the better for it," she said.

"At the moment we should be concentrating on making sure we're ready for the next general election.

"Anyone who talks of deselecting any of my colleagues, quite frankly, they need to think about, actually, who are the real enemy here?

"Who are making the problems for our communities at the moment? Who have made those disastrous policies that are hurting the people that need us the most? It doesn’t help them if we’re fighting each other."

Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger has become the centre of a deselection row, with local party left-wing activists telling her she must apologise for past criticisms of the leadership.