Martin Lewis In Extraordinary TV Clash With Kemi Badenoch Over Tory Student Loan Plan

Martin Lewis clashed with Kemi Badenoch on live TV over her plan to help graduates struggling to pay back their student loans.

The Tory leader has said her party would freeze the interest rates currently being charged in an attempt to bring down repayments.

But appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Badenoch was challenged by Lewis, the programme’s resident financial expert.

As presenters Ed Balls and Susanna Reid looked on, Lewis walked onto the set to confront the Tory chief directly.

He told her: “If you want to help the middle-earning students, the most important thing is the repayment threshold should have been increased.”

That was a reference to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ controversial decision in last year’s Budget to freeze the threshold, thereby dragging more graduates into the punishing repayment scheme.

Badenoch hit back: “Martin, this is exactly why young people are suffering.

“We’ve got lots of people who have finished university, where they didn’t have to pay fees, didn’t have to take out loans, and now you’re all saying nothing can be done.

“I’m the first person who’s even tried to solve this problem.”

Lewis interrupted her to say: “Shall we have a chat about it because I think you’ve got the right idea, but this is not a solution that will help middle and lower earning students.” 

As Ed Balls then asked whether a middle earning graduate would benefit from the Tory plan, Badenoch said: “You’re both talking over me – excuse me. Let me explain what my policy is.

“I want to make sure that those young people who are paying and paying and their debt is not going down get a relief. If you think there’s a better offer, let’s look at it.

“But what’s made the difference now is that in her Budget, Rachel Reeves increased the number of people getting in because the threshold has been frozen. I don’t think this is fair.

“The whole student loan system is not working properly, someone has to do something. And the thing that shocks me is the minute I say ‘let’s do something’, everyone says ‘oh no no no, this in not right’. We are going round in circles.”

But Lewis told her: “If you have a billion pounds to help students, the most direct thing that would help all students would be not freezing the repayment threshold, it would be increasing the repayment threshold.”

Later in the interview, the Tory leader said: “What is the problem now is that any time someone says ‘well let’s look at this, there’s always someone – sometimes it’s Martin – who says ‘oh that’s a terrible idea’ and then nothing happens. 

“Nothing is happening. No one is helping these people and I’m coming out with some ideas and with some solutions.”