I’m determined to help more young people from Leicester West to do an apprenticeship or go to university, because both go hand in hand to give my constituents the skills they need to get on in life and to strengthen our economy.

But many of the young people I meet worry about the cost of university. Under this Government, the average student will now graduate with £44,000 of debt and almost three quarters of students will never pay this debt back in full. This is bad for them and has real costs for taxpayers too, as the Government has to write off billions of pounds in unpaid student loans. If left unchecked this will add £280 billion to the national debt by 2030.

That’s why I’m supporting Labour’s plan to tackle graduate debt by cutting the maximum tuition fee from £9,000 to £6,000 from September 2016. We’ll also increase student grants by £400 for students from households with an income of up to £42,620, meaning more than half of all students will benefit. This will be paid for by restricting pension tax relief for those on the highest incomes.