UK growth will be the slowest in the G7 in 2024, Labour analysis of the latest economic forecasts shows, as Keir Starmer said that the economic climate would prevent him from going to university today.
The opposition said the economy was “stuck in a low-growth trap” that had led to higher taxes, higher prices in the shops, and the British people worse off.
The Bank of England’s monetary policy report for August said growth was set to be weaker next year than previously expected, downgraded from 0.75% to 0.5%. Labour said this meant the UK would experience the slowest growth among G7 countries.
The economy has become a key political battleground for the two main parties, with Labour sticking rigidly to its spending plans to underline its fiscal responsibility and the Tories still trying to repair the reputational damage caused by the Liz Truss era.
In a personal admission, Starmer said he would not have been able to afford to study law at the University of Leeds if the economy had been in a similar position in the early 1980s, accusing the government of “holding back” ambition and talent and “choking off the dreams” of a generation.
As thousands of school leavers go through university clearing this week, the Labour leader warned that if there had been a similar economic situation and soaring prices in his day it would have “stopped my dream cold in its tracks”.
He said: “There wasn’t any spare money knocking around to fund me going to Leeds. I worked before I went and then got by on grants, as many young people do. I vividly remember carefully calculating rent, bills and food.
“Going to Leeds to study was a turning point for me; it will be a deep betrayal if one of the legacies of this Tory government is university, apprenticeships and skills becoming the preserve of the wealthy.”
He added: “That ambitious and successful students are making decisions about their next steps based on costs and their financial means should shame the Conservatives. Tory economic failure choking off the dreams of the next generation is a deep betrayal of aspirational Britain.
“Talent and aspiration should drive young people – not the affordability of rent, or soaring food prices. I vividly remember the excitement of moving to Leeds to study law. It was a financial stretch then; if I were a student today, I wouldn’t be able to go.”
However, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, on Tuesday rejected Starmer’s claim that government policies would stop someone from his background being able to go to university today.
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The Tory minister, who left school at 16 to take up an apprenticeship, told Times Radio she had “some sympathy” because as a teenager she would have had concerns about racking up a large student debt. But she said loans and hardship funds were enabling “more and more” people from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university.
She said: “Since 2010 you are now 86% more likely to go to university if you are from a disadvantaged background.”
Starmer’s intervention came as the Tories launched education week, with announcements expected on the names of new free schools in deprived parts of England.
A Treasury spokesperson said they did “not recognise” Labour’s interpretation of the Bank of England’s forecast and that its categorisation of IMF forecasts was incorrect. They said that the forecasts showed UK growth this year and next, adding: “Since 2010, the UK has grown faster than France, Japan, Italy and Germany.”