William Hague is stating the obvious, but I always felt it hypocritical that people who benefitted from no student loans then went and voted for them. It’s also the wisdom of hindsight; I knew him slightly at university and I have defined benefit pensions, own my own home, etc. but the reasons are complex. Companies offered DB pensions to attract employees and wanted to be seen as “good citizens” whereas now they don’t seem to care one jot. And Gordon Brown helped kill DB pensions, followed by the companies themselves.
We now have 3 times the percentage of 18 year olds going to university, this was a political decision. I don’t know if it’s a good outcome but I feel that it is.
Back in 1979 we didn’t know about house price rises either, my first house purchase was a big step to take although anyone would probably laugh now at the idea of a £24,000 mortgage.
Clearly there needs to be a sensible discussion about student loans today, but making silly promises in opposition (Badenoch) which will never come to anything isn’t helping.
