Harrogate’s MP has issued a strong message to the Government as he prepares to introduce a bill in Parliament today to tackle the growing crisis of student loans.

Tom Gordon has called on the Government to “stop passing the buck” and fix student finance ahead of his 10-Minute Rule Bill on student loans

The Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, developed the bill in conjunction with student loans campaign group RethinkRepayment with the full backing of the NUS.

If passed, the bill would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to review student finance with the hope of unfreezing freeze repayment thresholds which have been hitting students so hard.

Student loans battle - Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon, right. and Tessa Munt MP with representative from the Young Liberals (Will Tennison and Sarah Andreson NUS (Lewis Wilson), Rethink Repayment (Adam Isaacs) , Good Growth Foundation (Billie Coulson).

placeholder image — Student loans battle - Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon, right. and Tessa Munt MP with representative from the Young Liberals (Will Tennison and Sarah Andreson NUS (Lewis Wilson), Rethink Repayment (Adam Isaacs) , Good Growth Foundation (Billie Coulson).

“My Bill is an opportunity for the government to stop passing the buck and fix student finance,” said Mr Gordon.

“It’s not just about Plan 2 graduates, students at university now and every young person considering whether higher education is the right path for them need to be assured that they’re not going to be messed about.

“Successive governments, of all political persuasions, have had a hand in this. It’s about problem-solving, not point scoring.”

An estimated 5.4 million graduates with Plan 2 student loans have been impacted by decisions to freeze repayment thresholds and retroactively change terms and conditions, which the Bill seeks to address.

Oliver Gardner, founder of RethinkRepayment, said: "We are very glad that Tom is introducing a parliamentary Bill to call for a review into the student loan repayment terms which millions of graduates know to be hugely unfair as well as preventing them from reaching major life milestones like buying houses and having children.

"The Government needs to commit to meaningful action to make the repayment terms more affordable for graduates.”

Tom Gordon’s 10-Minute Rule Bill comes in the midst of a Treasury Select Committee Report on the state of student finance, with a statement from Committee Chair Dame Meg Hillier due to be made immediately before the presentation by the Harrogate MP.

Lewis Wilson, the NUS Vice-President for Higher Education (England) said: “The system is inherently broken but Government never seems to take it seriously."