Proof that Labour DID pledge to wipe out students’ debt
JEREMY Corbyn faced calls to resign over ‘false promises’ last night as proof emerged that Labour did pledge to wipe out student debt during the election campaign.
The party leader had attempted to deny that his pre-election commitment to ‘deal with’ the issue had meant he was offering to cancel the money owed by graduates.
But it has emerged that two Labour frontbenchers publicly boasted about the plans before polling day.
In footage posted online, then international development spokesman Imran Hussain, who is now shadow justice minister, hailed the ‘fantastic news’ that ‘every existing student will have all their debt wiped off’. And shadow health minister Sharon Hodgson tweeted her delight at the announcement just a week before the June 8 election.
Last night former Labour peer Alan Sugar demanded Mr Corbyn resign because he had attracted the votes of thousands of young people with ‘false promises’.
He said on Twitter: ‘I think you should step down and let someone else rescue the Labour Party. You got votes with false promises.
‘It’s clear you alluded to students’ refunds to get votes from young impressionable people. You are a cheat and should resign.’
Education minister Nick Gibb accused Labour of betraying students. ‘ Their irresponsible offers to students are unravelling before our eyes,’ he said.
‘It is becoming abundantly clear that Labour’s election pledges were pure fantasy and they cannot be trusted to keep their promises – will they now step forward and apologise to young voters?’
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said Labour could not be trusted. ‘This is the third time the Labour Party have done a big U-turn on students,’ he said.
‘They introduced tuition fees, having promised not to. They then increased them having promised not to. They’ve now run a campaign on student debt and they’ve abandoned it within weeks.’ In the closing days of the election campaign, Mr Corbyn told NME magazine he would ‘deal with’ the student debt many graduates have been saddled with. His comments were widely interpreted as a promise to write off the debt.
On Sunday he was challenged on the BBC over his pledge, and admitted he had no idea how much it would cost to cancel the amount owed by graduates when he made his pre-election promise. Mr Corbyn added: ‘I did not make a commitment we would write it off because I couldn’t at that stage.’
Ministers estimate that the cost, including reimbursing those who have already paid it off, would be £103billion.
But Labour figures were indeed pledging to get rid of all debt. During the election, Mr Hussain said: ‘Just this morning Jeremy Corbyn has announced that the tuition fees will be abolished straight away from September if there’s a Labour government... and also that every existing student will have all their debt wiped off. That’s fantastic news, isn’t it guys?’
And in a tweet a week before the election, Miss Hodgson wrote: ‘Jeremy Corbyn: Labour could write off historic student debts! All those in early 20s with student debt. #VoteLabour.’
Yet she is now claiming Mr Corbyn never made the pledge. On Sunday she tweeted: ‘No, Jeremy Corbyn didn’t “mislead” people over tuition fees – and Theresa May is misleading people about it!’
Mr Corbyn’s comments on student debt were credited with driving up turnout among the young, who voted in record numbers at the election. But shadow chancellor John McDonnell subsequently said the pledge was an ‘ambition’ and the party’s education spokesman, Angela Rayner, said there were ‘no plans’ to pursue the idea.
A Labour spokesman said yesterday the party had simply been looking for ways to ‘ameliorate’ the debt burden and added: ‘Labour’s manifesto pledged to scrap tuition fees from 2018 and write off the first year of fees for students starting this September, so that no one is priced out of getting a degree.’