Finance campaigner Martin Lewis ambushed Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch live on ITV's Good Morning Britain, directly contradicting her party's plan to cut interest rates on student loans. The confrontation occurred as Badenoch defended the policy, which would scrap above-inflation interest rate increases for Plan 2 loans taken out between 2012 and 2022.
Lewis marched onto the set after former Labour MP Ed Balls challenged Badenoch on whether the plan would only benefit high earners. Lewis argued that lowering interest rates would primarily help those who could clear their debt within 30 years, typically higher earners, while neglecting lower and middle-income graduates. He suggested raising the repayment threshold instead as a more direct way to help all students.
Badenoch insisted that 'everybody will benefit' from the change, which would be funded by cutting university courses deemed to lack 'value for money', potentially including creative arts. Lewis countered that he had warned against above-inflation interest rates when the system was introduced in 2012 under a Conservative government.
After the broadcast, Lewis apologised on X (formerly Twitter), saying Badenoch handled the interruption 'far better than I would have the other way round'. He requested a meeting to discuss the issue more calmly. Badenoch accepted, replying that she loves 'a feisty debate'.
The row highlights growing political consensus that the current student loan system is unworkable, with rising interest rates leaving most graduates barely reducing their debt. Labour MP Nadia Whittome recently revealed that despite earning in the top 5% of salaries, her repayments had reduced her £49,600 debt by only £1,000 since 2019.
