{"id":24388,"date":"2026-02-23T13:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24388"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:28:08","slug":"martin-lewis-ambushes-badenoch-on-good-morning-britain-over-student-loans-plan-kemi-badenoch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24388","title":{"rendered":"Martin Lewis ambushes Badenoch on Good Morning Britain over student loans plan | Kemi Badenoch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kemi Badenoch has faced what could be described as the stuff of nightmares for a UK politician being interviewed about a personal finance policy: being ambushed and contradicted live on air by Martin Lewis.<\/p>\n

As the Conservative leader was being interviewed on ITV about her party\u2019s plans<\/a> to cut interest rates for some student loans, Lewis, a campaigner and finance expert, marched on to the set to announce that he completely disagreed.<\/p>\n

Ed Balls, who had been interviewing Badenoch for Good Morning Britain, had challenged her on whether the Tory plan would help only former students in the highest-paying jobs. After Badenoch insisted this was not the case, Lewis began shouting from off-set before walking into shot to side with Balls, eventually ending up sitting on the sofa.<\/p>\n

While Badenoch stuck to her view, polling shows that Lewis, who styles himself as a money-saving expert, is heavily trusted by much of the public on personal finance matters.<\/p>\n

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Martin Lewis is calling on the Chancellor to change a key decision on student loans she made in the last budget, calling it a breach of the contract graduates originally signed.<\/p>\n

Martin Lewis questions Kemi Badenoch about the Conservatives’ proposals. pic.twitter.com\/aj5r6mklF6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The Conservative plan, set out overnight, would scrap any above-inflation interest rate increases on so-called plan 2 student loans in England, for those who started courses from 2012 to 2022.<\/p>\n

The change would be financed by cutting tens of thousands of university courses that do not provide \u201cvalue for money\u201d for students. Interviewed about the plan on Sunday, the shadow education secretary, Laura Trott, suggested this could include creative arts courses.<\/p>\n

Balls challenged Badenoch about whether the Tory plan would help most students, saying it would only benefit those earning enough money to start paying off their debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s right,\u201d Badenoch said, to which Balls responded: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely right.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, Lewis began shouting from off-set before walking on to tell Badenoch that while the system needed change, this was the wrong plan. \u201cIf you want to help the middle-earning students, the most important thing is the repayment threshold should have been increased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLowering the interest rate now will only help those who can clear [the debt] within the 30 years, which means lower and middle earning graduates won\u2019t benefit from that change. If you have \u00a31bn to help students, the most direct thing that would help all students would be not freezing the repayment threshold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Badenoch insisted that \u201ceverybody will benefit\u201d, adding: \u201cI\u2019m the first person who\u2019s even trying to solve this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lewis replied by saying he had repeatedly pointed out the problems with the system: \u201cWhen the Conservative government brought it in in 2012 I said we shouldn\u2019t have above-inflation interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis later issued an apology to Badenoch for the interruption, saying she handled it far better than I would have the other way round\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI have asked my office to request a meeting, if you are available, to discuss this more calmly.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is increasing political consensus that the current system, in which rising interest rates mean most former students barely make a dent in huge piles of debt, is unworkable.<\/p>\n

The Labour MP Nadia Whittome said recently that she had left university in 2019 with \u00a349,600 of debt and her repayments had taken just \u00a31,000 off that, despite her earning in the top 5% of salaries as an MP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n