Finance campaigner Martin Lewis marched onto the set of Good Morning Britain on Monday to challenge Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over her party's student loans policy. The surprise intervention came as Badenoch was being interviewed about the Tories' plan to cut interest rates for some student loans, which Lewis argued would only benefit top earners.
During the interview, presenter Ed Balls questioned whether the policy would help only former students in high-paying jobs. After Badenoch denied this, Lewis began shouting from off-set before walking into shot to side with Balls, eventually sitting on the sofa. He told Badenoch: 'If you want to help the middle-earning students, the most important thing is the repayment threshold should have been increased. Lowering the interest rate now will only help those who can clear [the debt] within the 30 years.'
The Conservative plan, announced overnight, would scrap above-inflation interest rate increases on plan 2 student loans in England for courses started between 2012 and 2022. The change would be funded by cutting university courses deemed not to provide 'value for money', which shadow education secretary Laura Trott suggested could include creative arts degrees.
Badenoch insisted that 'everybody will benefit' from the policy, adding: 'I'm the first person who's even trying to solve this problem.' Lewis later issued an apology on X, saying she handled the interruption 'far better than I would have the other way round' and requested a meeting to discuss the issue more calmly. Badenoch accepted, replying: 'I do love a feisty debate!'
