The UK Labour Party will drop its commitment to abolishing university tuition fees, reversing another of the pledges Keir Starmer made when he became opposition leader.
(Bloomberg) — The UK Labour Party will drop its commitment to abolishing university tuition fees, reversing another of the pledges Keir Starmer made when he became opposition leader.
“We are likely to move on from that commitment as we do find ourselves in a different financial situation,” Starmer told BBC Radio on Tuesday. He said his party is “looking at a number of options” for reforms to higher education funding.
While Starmer blamed shifting economic circumstances since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the fresh U-turn will add fodder to the complaints of those on the left of his party who say he’s steadily abandoning the platform on which he stood to win the leadership.
Starmer had included the commitment to scrap tuition fees in his campaign in 2020, when he made a series of bold policy pledges aimed at winning over supporters of the left-wing outgoing leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Other promises Starmer has since abandoned include support for continued freedom of movement as the UK left the European Union, and pushing for public ownership of energy and water companies.
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