Student Loans

Debate between Rosie Wrighting and Danny Beales

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Wrighting]

There are many levers that this Government can pull to make life better for graduates. I understand that, given the economic situation, some of those levers are easier to pull than others. I am glad that measures such as the Renters’ Rights Act 2026 are coming forward and making a difference for my generation every single day. I have voiced my view that the system is not fair and that I would like my Government to look at it, and I think that that has been heard.

Let me return to what I was saying. We want to be able to live in a home that we are not worried we will get kicked out of, and even one day not to have to live with strangers or parents. We want to be able to make the choice to have a child if that is right, and to decide to go on holiday without maxing out our credit cards. I do not think that that is asking too much. That is hope and aspiration. I want to live in a country where it is reasonable for ordinary young people to want those things and, more importantly, to think that they are achievable.

Of all the damage that the Conservatives did, one of the worst things for me was the damage to hope. I started university in 2016. My tuition fees were £9,000 a year, but my maintenance loan was £12,000 a year. I am now paying back more not because my education cost more, but because I came from a low-income family and needed that support to live.

[Danny Beales]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. This place is much better for her presence, speaking up for people in her situation. It sounds like we had a similar background, but I was fortunate enough to be on a plan 1 system and, under a Labour Government, benefited not only from an educational maintenance allowance to stay on at sixth form, but from grants as well as loans. It sounds like she was not able to benefit from that because of the Conservative party. Does she agree that the restoring of maintenance grants and the uplifting of maintenance loans to match the cost of living will benefit people who come from backgrounds such as ours?

[Rosie Wrighting]

I do not think it has been talked about enough in this debate, or in the debate more widely, just how much is added on for students who have to take out a large maintenance loan because they come from a low-income family. I thank my hon. Friend for raising that.

When maintenance grants were scrapped by the Conservatives, that cost did not disappear.