Bridget Phillipson to announce rise in student tuition fees for England
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is going to announce a rise in tuition fees for England in the Commons this afternoon.
University tuition fees in England are to go up next autumn for the first time in eight years, the government will announce this afternoon.
If linked to inflation, it could take fees up to a record £9,500 in October 2025, providing some respite for universities who have been struggling with a deepening financial crisis.
Domestic undergraduate tuition fees in England have been capped at £9,250 since 2017 but have been eroded in value by high inflation, forcing universities to rely on uncapped tuition fees from international students to balance their books.
While any increase would be welcomed by vice-chancellors, it is likely to be deeply unpopular with current and future students, who were once told by the Labour party that tuition fees would be scrapped.
Key events
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Bridget Phillipson makes Commons statement on tuition fees increase
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Mel Stride appointed shadow chancellor, and Priti Patel shadow foreign secretary
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‘Vast majority’ of farmers will still be able to pass farms on to their children, despite inheritance tax extension, government says
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Enviroment minister defends inheritance tax farm extension, saying 7% richest farmers get 40% of benefit from current rule
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Tuition fees should be scrapped, not increased, says Green party
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Former MP Beth Winter quits Labour party, saying it’s not socialist and just committed to retaining ‘neoliberal status quo’
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IFS chief dismisses criticism of inheritance tax farm extension as ‘special pleading by extremely wealthy people’
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Bridget Phillipson to announce rise in student tuition fees for England
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Cooper says government will consider changing law so under-16s can be considered as victims of domestic abuse
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Laura Trott appointed new shadow education secretary
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Farmers have never been as angry as they are about inheritance tax change, and many ‘want to be militant’, says NFU leader
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Badenoch reportedly tells CCHQ staff they can win next election and they should try innovating with new ways of working
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Starmer explains how government intends to ‘treat people smugglers like terrorists’
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Starmer says people smuggling should be seen as ‘global security threat similar to terrorism’
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Lammy says reparations for colonies affected by slavery should not be about cash payments
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Cooper rejects James Dyson’s attack on ‘spiteful’ budget and his claim Labour ‘detests private sector’
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Yvette Cooper criticises ‘appalling’ comment about Kemi Badenoch retweeted by Labour MP
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Badenoch makes Nigel Huddleston and Dominic Johnson Tory co-chairs, and Rebecca Harris chief whip
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Starmer says world must ‘wake up to severity’ of threat posed by illegal migration
Bridget Phillipson makes Commons statement on tuition fees increase
Before the tuition fees announcement, Linsday Hoyle, the Speaker, told Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, he was angry about the news being leaked to the media first. Phillipson said she would investigate the leak.
Mel Stride appointed shadow chancellor, and Priti Patel shadow foreign secretary
Mel Stride, the former work and pensions secretary, has been made shadow chancellor, the BBC is reporting.
And Priti Patel, the former home secretary, is shadow foreign secretary.
This suggests Kemi Badenoch is serious when she says she wants to unite the party. Stride is a senior figure on the left of the party, and Patel is a prominent rightwinger.
Patel does have an interest in foreign policy. When she was international development secretary, she was sacked by Theresa May for in effect operating as a freelance foreign secretary – holding meetings with ministers in Israel without Downing Street’s approval.
Yesterday Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, posted a message on social media congratulating Badenoch on her election victory.
I send my heart felt congratulations to Kemi Badenoch. I am sure she will continue the great tradition of Israeli British partnership and friendship.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 3, 2024
I send my heart felt congratulations to Kemi Badenoch. I am sure she will continue the great tradition of Israeli British partnership and friendship
Back to tuition fees, and Paul Lewis, the financial broadcaster, says putting up tuition fees will mean the government has a bit more headroom for borrowing.
There is little point in raising university tuition fees (in England) except of course that the govt now counts student debt as an asset to borrow against and this will make that bigger. It will reduce the chance of debts being repaid before the 40 year cancellation line.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, claims Keir Starmer’s language about the threat posed by illegal migration this morning (see 9.13am) is similar to language his party has used.
‘Vast majority’ of farmers will still be able to pass farms on to their children, despite inheritance tax extension, government says
The government has said that the “vast majority” of farmers will be able to pass their farm on to their children despite inheritance tax being extended to cover some farms. In a statement issued ahead of the urgent question, a government spokesperson said:
The government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5bn to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.
We understand concerns about changes to agricultural property relief and the Defra secretary of state and exchequer secretary to the Treasury met with NFU president Tom Bradshaw today.
Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.
Andrew Mitchell, the shadow foreign secretary, has said he won’t be serving in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet. That is not particularly surprising; he first served as a minister in the 1990s, Badenoch talks about wanting to look to the future, and Mitchell is not on her wing of the party anyway. In a statement on social media, Mitchell says it is time to “pass the baton’”.
It has been an honour to serve under Rishi Sunak as Deputy Foreign Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary. But it is time to pass the baton! I look forward to continue serving my constituents in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.
Kemi Badenoch will have my full support from the backbenches as she rebuilds the Conservative Party, exposes the terrible Labour government and sets us on a path to victory at the next general election.
The Treasury says that 73% of farms will not qualify for inheritance tax under the plans announced in the budget. (See 12.26pm.) But the NFU says only 34% of farms are worth less than £1m, which is the new threshold where inheritance tax will kick in.
In a news release, the NFU says the discrepancy is explained by the fact that the Treasury’s 73% figure is based on farms just claiming agricultural property relief. It does not include farms also claiming business property relief, the NFU says.
And the 73% figure also includes smallholdings.
Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, said:
Far from protecting smaller family farms, which is what ministers say they’re doing, they’re actually protecting private houses in the country with a few acres let out for grazing whilst disproportionately hammering actual, food-producing farms which are, on paper, much more valuable. Even Defra’s own figures show this, which is why they’re so different to the Treasury data this policy is based on.
Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem chair of the Commons environment committee, tabled the urgent question.
He said farmers rely on longterm planning. And they trusted the assurances from Labour before the election that the inheritance tax rules for farmers would not change.
He says, although farms are valuable assets, that does not mean farmers are wealthy.
He challenged ministers to publish the data used to justify the Treasury’s claim that most farms will not be affected by the change.
In response, Daniel Zeichner, an environment minister, said that the current rules only came into force in 1992. Before that, the exemption defended by Carmichael did not exist, he said.
Enviroment minister defends inheritance tax farm extension, saying 7% richest farmers get 40% of benefit from current rule
Daniel Zeichner, an environment minister, is replying to the urgent question, tabled by the Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael.
Zeichner said the government’s commitment to farming was “unwavering”.
It has committed £5bn to the agricultural budget over the next two years, he said.
He said the Tories left a £22bn black hole in the national finances, and the government had to take tough decisions.
He said 20% of the value of the inheritance tax exemption for farmers was going to the wealthiest 2% of estates, and 40% of it was going to the wealthiest 7%.
He said the current rules were being used “by wealthy landowners to avoid inheritance tax”.
He said that Steve Reed, the environment secretary, met the NFU this morning (see 12.26pm) and the government completely understood their concerns.
But he said people in rural areas needed a better NHS, better transport and better housing – measures funded by the budget – just as much as everyone else.
And he said that, under the plans, an individual would be able to leave a farm worth £2m to children without having to pay inheritance tax, and a couple could leave a farm worth £3m. (See 12.49pm.)
UPDATE: Zeichner said:
Currently, small farms can find themselves facing the same levels of tax bills as much larger farms, despite having a much smaller asset. 20% of inheritance tax is claimed by the top 2%, 40% is claimed by the top 7%, that’s not fair, it’s not sustainable, and sadly, it’s been used, in some cases by wealthy landowners to avoid inheritance tax, and that’s why this government has announced plans to reform agricultural property relief.
73% of agricultural property relief claims are less than one million pounds, the vast majority of farmers will not be affected, they’ll be able to pass a family farm down to their children, just as previous generations have always done.
It’s a fair, balanced approach that protects family farms, while also fixing the public services those same families rely on.
In the Commons education question has now finished. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, was not asked about tuition fees during the session, but she is delivering a statement about it later, at around 4.15pm.
First, there is an urgent question on the budget, farms and inheritance tax.