Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has refused to commit to abolishing university tuition fees in England, saying the party had “a number of propositions” on the issue that would be put forward before the next general election.
Scrapping fees was a key plank of Labour’s manifesto at the last general election, in 2019, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, and the policy was endorsed by Sir Keir during his successful leadership campaign the following year.
However, Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have long been expected to drop the commitment which, along with the reintroduction of maintenance grants, was costed at £7.2 billion in the 2019 manifesto.
