Starmer U-turn on 'no tuition fees'

We'll seek fairer deal on student fees, says Starmer

- Nicholas Cecil

SIR Keir Starmer is to U-turn on his pledge to abolish tuition fees if he becomes prime minister, he disclosed today.

He stressed that given Britain’s fraught public finances, Labour would no longer support a policy of axing university tuition fees. “We are likely to move on from that commitment, because we do find ourselves in a different financial situation,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added: “We are looking at options for how we fund these fees. The current system is unfair, it doesn’t really work for students, doesn’t work for universities.”

He said the party would, in the coming weeks, set out what he described as a “fairer solution,” to move on from today’s system. Sir Keir made the pledge to scrap tuition fees during the 2020 Labour leadership election. In a New Year’s speech, however, he indicated that the promise would be kept under review.

Reneging on the pledge threatens to spark a backlash among students and in the Labour Party.