Snakes that Pull the Ladder

In recent weeks, eyes and ears have been focusing on the Middle East. Starmer’s hesitancy to go in behind the Americans and Israelis with all guns blazing has gone down well with the public, and his opposition to the right of him have taken a real misstep. 

It is a safe bet to assume that he will see a small rise in his favourability ratings in the coming weeks. However, Starmer would be foolish to think that this uptick will steady the ship.

Whilst this has all been going on, Chancellor Reeves announced the Spring Statement. There were no changes made since the budget in November (this, sadly is common practice). Nothing to do with student loans was mentioned, except for the reiteration that the repayment threshold for those on plan 2 loans, will remain frozen for three years from April 2027. 

Elsewhere in Westminster, MPs have launched a new student loans inquiry headed by the ‘Influential Treasury Committee Chair’ Meg Hillier, a stalwart of the Labour party, having been an MP for over 20 years. The first step they have made with this inquiry is to set up a portal specifically for the 7 million plus individuals who have student loans to voice and vent their concerns. There is a limit of 1000 characters. Which suggests they preempted that this would be cascaded with stories of unfairness and genuine anger. They can’t let us explain the depths of this robbery, can they? 

In a Guardian article, Hillier, who is the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch (one of the demographically youngest constituencies in the country), is quoted as saying: “Now those young people are coming out and finding rents are sky high.”...”You’ve got the demographic timebomb. So they’re going to be supporting the older generation. So we’ve got an interest in investing in these young people.” 

Yeah thanks Meg, we didn't quite grasp how buggered the situation was … thanks for clearing that up. This superficial interpretation of the excessive burden that has been thrown on the shoulders of my generation is insulting. Bear in mind that it has taken nearly two years for this Labour government to decide to hear our voices.

The way I would describe student loan repayments is like playing a game of snakes and ladders. This is a game you actually don't want to play, because it comes at direct personal cost, and can last for 40 years (can you imagine). There is an exception to this rule however, if you happen to strike lucky by winning the birth lottery and end up being born into family wealth, you don't even need to play this game, because in one simple swoop, mummy and daddy can put the board game away.

Everyone else must get from 0 - 100. The ladders represent a surge in personal wealth in which a person decides to direct towards paying off their loan, perhaps a new job is the reason for this climb, a bonus, a windfall etc. The snakes represent the interest on your debt. 

Take Georgia Pickford, 26, who appeared on GMB earlier this month. She has made £9,000 in payments out of £64,000 that she owed, having started her undergraduate degree in 2017. You would think Georgia would be on the 14th square of the board, still a long way to go. But No! Georgia now finds herself on the -32nd square of the board, owing £85,000. 

These snakes inhabit every square and much like the governments that implemented this scam and sustain it, they are indifferent to your life. If you were to lose your job, perhaps you get fired or you become a full time carer to look after a loved one, regardless of how far you made it up the grid, what you paid into this would start to ebb and your debt would balloon once again, akin to a spreading illness. 

For the many, this is a game of perpetual backsliding and the psychological damage it wreaks on a population only exacerbates the massive productivity problem this country faces. For the few, who never have to sit at the table for 40 years, it is of no concern. 

The average student coming out of University today owes £53,000. For full disclosure I myself have a plan 2 loan and owe £51,500. This financial year, RPI sits at 3.2%, so RPI plus 3% takes you to 6.2%. 6.2% of my debt works out as £3,193. Repayments start to be taken at 9% above the current threshold of £28,470. So in order to compete with the added interest that gets piled on this year (we are not even talking about tackling my actual debt), I will have to earn… £28,470 + £3,193/0.09 which equals £63,948. This is how much I have to earn to stay static on the grid…

I hope the problem has now taken its insidious shape.

Whilst we are laden with this complete and utter nonsense, the golden baby boomer generation, the richest of them all, whose parents — the greatest generation — saw off the Nazis, built the NHS, and rationed for ten years, are still being kept cosy, having been coddled for decades upon decades. 

This generation, bought up all the housing and refused to build more, decided to leave the European single market of over 500 million willing participants, voted for years of austerity that crippled social services whilst pension pots spilled over, yet have the temerity to groan about how my generation should be grateful and simply get off our arses.

They are set, in the next financial year (this April) to see over £13bn pumped into pensioner benefits. All while my generation competes with Blackrock to buy a two-up two-down. With the likes of Jacob Rees Mogg telling us to have sympathy for the asset rich-cash poor owners of 2 million pound town houses. 

The economic and political outlook for my generation is dire. We need support and we need it now.

The greatest irony of all is that if you take a look at recent YouGov polling for voter intention (March 16th), you find that with the 65+ age group, Reform lead the way with 34%, The Tories are a close second, with 27%, The Lib Dems are third, with 14% and Labour come in FOURTH with a meagre 12%.

Whilst within the 18-24 age group, the Greens have 47% while Labour have only 16%. Within the 25-49 age group (of which there are over 5 million student loan payers) the Greens lead with 26% and Labour 21%. 

To me the maths is clear. Labour, you have nothing to lose, and looking at the other age groups the need for you to change course hits home further.

The gauntlet I am throwing down is simple; freeze the state pension increase (please means test it this time around) and bring debt relief by removing the interest on loans. This will help a struggling generation that deserves more from their elders. Choose wisely.

Image: Flickr/No 10 Downing Street (Simon Dawson)

Licence.

No image changes made.