Keir Starmer has put Labour’s pledge to abolish university tuition fees under review in a move that underlined the UK opposition party’s newfound commitment to fiscal discipline.
The Labour leader refused to say on Thursday whether he would keep a commitment by his hard-left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn from the 2019 general election to abolish tuition fees, at a cost of £9.5bn a year.
Starmer’s stance highlighted how he is seeking to draw a line under the Corbyn era through centre-left policies and a commitment to sound public finances.
Labour is about 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls, with a general election due within the next two years.
