Following Jeremy Corbyn’s U-turn on his commitment to ‘deal with’ student debt, 147 MPs including Erewash MP Maggie Throup, have written to Labour’s Shadow Chancellor demanding that he sets out which other plans would face the axe as Labour attempts to deal with £5.8 billion in extra debt interest payments.
The letter is published alongside new analysis of Labour’s plans showing that, by the end of this Parliament, public sector net debt would be more than £250 billion higher under Labour than under the Conservatives. Based on the OBR’s current projections of the cost of government borrowing, this means Labour would spend £5.8 billion more a year in debt interest payments – the equivalent to the pay of around 65,000 nurses, 56,000 teachers and 53,000 police officers, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
Speaking about this, Maggie said:
“It is clear that Labour have not learnt the lessons of the past. Both locally and nationally they continue to pursue a strategy of buying votes with eye catching but fiscally irresponsible policies that threaten jobs and vital public services here in Erewash.
“When the Conservatives came into government in 2010, our country was on the brink of economic collapse. In contrast, today the deficit has been reduced by almost two thirds and unemployment has fallen to its lowest since 1975.
“We cannot afford to put all this good work at risk and that is why I thought it was important to join with other colleagues and write the Shadow Chancellor to ask him to clarify his costings.”
Commenting on the letter, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond MP, said:
“My parliamentary colleagues are quite right to call John McDonnell out. After duping voters over student debt, Labour is trying to get away with hiding the true cost to public services of their irresponsible borrowing. Conservative MPs represent the only party with a responsible plan to bring down debt, so we can invest in the local public services that support our communities and serve families across the country.”