While the Treasury insisted it would not U-turn on the terms of the loans, senior government sources confirmed that preliminary discussions were taking place behind the scenes about possible measures to make the loans fairer. <\/p>\n
One said that ministers \u201cknew they had a problem on their hands\u201d and that an increasing number of MPs had raised the issue after a campaign run by The Sunday Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Three ways to end the student debt injustice<\/a><\/p>\n Another said ministers \u201cwanted to see what they could do\u201d to reduce annual payments and interest rates. \u201cThis was not a problem that we created but one we inherited from the Tories,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut we realise it is something that we need to try and address.\u201d<\/p>\n The source added that it was \u201ctoo early\u201d to say what specific measures might be taken because these were being \u201cscoped\u201d by officials. It could include reducing annual payment rates or the rate of interest due on the loans.<\/p>\n Pressure on ministers to perform an about-turn is expected to increase after the Conservatives indicated that Kemi Badenoch<\/a>, the party leader, would campaign against the policy.<\/p>\n Kemi Badenoch during an interview in January<\/p>\n ALISHIA ABODUNDE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n The Green Party has pledged to write off student<\/a> loan debt and scrap tuition fees. <\/p>\n One Labour<\/a> MP said they knew of \u201cdozens\u201d of backbench MPs who wanted the government to reform the system. The MP added: \u201cWe were outfoxed [by the Conservatives] on the social media ban. Kemi is going to try and outfox us again on this. Have we learnt our lessons?\u201d<\/p>\n The MP added that some backbenchers were personally affected by the Plan 2 loans, adding: \u201cThere\u2019s obviously internal chats among the Plan 2 generations of backbench MPs, so they\u2019re bubbling up.\u201d<\/p>\n Another MP said: \u201cI\u2019m worried about the Labour Party ending up behind the curve on this. You\u2019re seeing the Conservatives<\/a>, hypocritically, and the Reform<\/a> party starting to make noises about this. And it would be wrong for the Labour Party not to acknowledge that what we inherited here was a broken system. And, yes, the financial circumstances are difficult, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should be defending the broken Tory system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Student loans chair to be paid \u00a359,000 a year for 96 days\u2019 work<\/a><\/p>\n Chris Curtis, the MP for Milton Keynes North and co-chairman of the Labour Growth Group, said: \u201cPlan 2 student loans are effectively a badly designed graduate tax that\u2019s further stacking the tax system against younger workers. If we imposed these marginal rates on older workers, people would call it absurd but it\u2019s been normalised for my generation.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not just unfair, it\u2019s also bad economics. When young people see over half their next pay rise disappear, it becomes harder to justify pushing for the promotion or the better job. That is a drag on economic growth, which we all pay the price for.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Curtis<\/p>\n ROGER HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n \u2022 My student loan is a curse and the data proves it<\/a><\/p>\n Plan 2 loans, issued to students who started university between 2012 and July 2023, have come under scrutiny since a Sunday Times investigation shed light on their punitive terms. The End the Graduate Rip-Off campaign<\/a> is calling for a reform of the system.<\/p>\n![\"Conservative](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/\/b7a02a0c-b874-4410-a896-cd30e5ea4fb7.jpg\")
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