Martin Lewis has apologised to Kemi Badenoch for “gate crashing” her interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. The Conservative leader was being interviewed on Monday when Mr Lewis, who was waiting to discuss student loans, walked onto the set and sparked a debate over the party’s proposals for the loan system.
Mr Lewis later wrote on social media: “Dear @KemiBadenoch, apologies for gate crashing your @GMB interview today. Student loans are so life-impacting that I wanted to ensure the key point was made – that financially, if not psychologically, the repayment threshold is a bigger issue than the interest.” He added: “Thank you for being so courteous after the interruption – you handled it far better than I would have the other way round.”
During the exchange, Mr Lewis argued that lowering the interest rate on student loans would only benefit higher earners who can clear their debt within 30 years, while lower and middle earners would see no benefit. He emphasised that raising the repayment threshold was more important. Ms Badenoch responded: “I’m the first person who’s even trying to solve this problem… the whole student loan system is not working properly, someone has to do something.”
Ms Badenoch later replied to Mr Lewis’s apology, saying she loved a “feisty debate” and would “genuinely love” to come on his show for a further discussion. She noted that student loans had become “a scam,” recalling her own experience of paying off a £14,000 debt over eight years, while young people today face debts of £40,000.
During his own segment, Mr Lewis criticised Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to freeze the salary threshold for Plan 2 loan repayments for three years, calling it a “unilateral breach of contract” that would not be allowed by the Financial Conduct Authority if a commercial company attempted it. He described the freeze as regressive, forcing lower and middle earners to pay more for 30 years with no benefit, while higher earners would pay less interest.
