Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, has criticized the Tory administration’s poor management of the country’s economy, which he claimed have prevented the underprivileged students from enrolling into tertiary institutions.
Keir Starmer stated that, if the current economic predicaments would have existed in the 1980s, he would have gotten no chance to afford law studies at the University of Leeds.
He further claimed that, the administration has diminished the ambitions of the youth and “choking off the dreams” of generations.
Starmer explained that, during his university days, there weren’t enough funds to cater for his law studies at Leeds University. “I worked before I went and then got by on grants, as many young people do. I vividly remember carefully calculating rent, bills and food,” the Labour leader said.
“Going to Leeds to study was a turning point for me; it will be a deep betrayal if one of the legacies of this Tory government is university, apprenticeships and skills becoming the preserve of the wealthy.”
“That ambitious and successful students are making decisions about their next steps based on costs and their financial means should shame the Conservatives. Tory economic failure choking off the dreams of the next generation is a deep betrayal of aspirational Britain.
“Talent and aspiration should drive young people, not the affordability of rent, or soaring food prices. I vividly remember the excitement of moving to Leeds to study law. It was a financial stretch then; if I were a student today, I wouldn’t be able to go.”
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party.
Starmer’s statement comes in the wake of the commencement of the Conservatives’ education week launch.
According to the Labour Party, their estimation of the current growth of the economy tells them that, the UK’s economy would be the worst performing one among the G7 countries in the coming year.
The opposition further explained that, the performance of the Tory administration has deteriorated the living conditions of the ordinary UK citizens, as taxes and prices of commodities continue to rise. To them, the economy is “stuck in a low-grow strap.”
However, as a rebuttal to what have been said by the Labour leader, a Treasury spokesman stated that, the department “does not recognize” the opposition’s conclusions of the central bank’s economic projections as well as its classification of the IMF estimates.
According to the Treasury spokesman, the IMF predicted that, the economy of the UK has grown this year, and would continue to grow the coming year. He claimed that, since 2010, the UK economy has grown faster than that of France, Japan, Italy, and Germany.
According to the Bank of England’s August Monetary policy report, economic growth for the coming year has been revised downwards from 0.75% to 0.5%, proving Labour’s conclusions that UK’s economy would grow slower than other G7 nations.
Moreover, the Secretary for Education, Gillian Keegan, expressed her disagreement with the Labour leader’s outburst claiming that, the present economic performance of the Tory governance would block others from attending tertiary.
Keegan implied that, as a school dropout at age 16, she has sympathy for the younger ones, because at that age, she would have contemplated on acquiring enough student loan to study, which would have eventually been a financial burden on her.
The minister fact-checked that, people from poor income families were able to access the financial assistance programs and hardship grants and enrolled in colleges of their choice.
“Since 2010 you are now 86% more likely to go to university if you are from a disadvantaged background.”
Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary.
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