Kate Osborne

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing this important debate. The debate is timely, as I have recently been working on a case for my constituent Melissa, who has come to Parliament today to hear the debate. When I posted on social media about Melissa’s case, with her permission, it caught a wave of people in similar situations. I have now been contacted by more than 700 individuals, all with similar horror stories about the level of debt they have on plan 2. Melissa left university with a debt of £37,000 and has been paying off her loan every month since 2022, yet despite four years of payments, the amount she owes has increased by tens of thousands, to £60,000. Melissa’s case is by no means the worst example that I have received. Another constituent, Lucy, left university with nearly £28,000 to pay back, and her debt now stands at a huge £54,000. Chloe—one of our brightest science, technology, engineering and maths students—attended Newcastle University to study physics, and then went straight into full-time employment, starting to pay off her student loans immediately. Despite that, the amount she owes has increased by £14,000. Education is a right, not a privilege. It is not okay that we are pricing people out of education. Quite frankly, the amount of interest being charged every year is a scandal and a rip-off. What will the Government do to help to eliminate student debt? Considering the thresholds is all very well, but I think we should just abolish tuition fees altogether, to boost social mobility and benefit society.