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Harrogate MP demands review of 'unfair' student loan system

Thursday, 10 September 2026 12:47

Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon is calling for a review of the student loan system through a new Parliamentary Bill.

The Liberal Democrat MP will introduce the Bill on Tuesday (15th September) in a bid to tackle the student loan repayments crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of graduates.

It calls for a review of student finance, with explicit consideration given to the terms and conditions in place when loans were taken out.

Tom, who holds both a Plan 2 loan and a postgraduate loan, has consistently campaigned on the issue.

He previously worked with campaign group Rethink Repayment to deliver a petition to Parliament and tabled an Early Day Motion opposing the freeze on repayment thresholds.

Tom said:

“Graduates are being clobbered by student loan repayments. The terms and conditions we're dealing with today are simply not the ones we signed up to; the threshold has not stayed in line with average earnings.

“No other lender could change the terms of a loan after you've taken it out, so why should the government?

“With the cost of living already stretching people to breaking point, these repayments are eating into wages at exactly the moment graduates are trying to save for a deposit or start a family.

He added:

“Hundreds of thousands of people are being locked out of the housing ladder and delaying having kids because of debt they were told would work very differently to how it actually has.

“It's simply unfair to keep chopping and changing the rules, and we need a proper plan and resolution.”

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