#knowyourvote

New IFS research today shows that the average debt a student has on graduating university has risen to over £50,000. For the students coming from the lowest income families, this can be as much as £57,000 with £5,800 of that purely from interest accrued since starting their courses.

Under the Conservative government, student loans have been increased from £3,000 per year to £9,000 per year. Maintenance grants for low-income students have been replaced by extra loan allowance. Student loans are set to increase in line with inflation (or by £250 per year) for the foreseeable future, starting in September, regardless of teaching quality.

The IFS sees only two winners from the current system, and it’s certainly not the students who benefit. Students earning the minimum amount of repayments - which has been frozen at £21,000 for several years - are estimated to be 30% worse off than their equivalents under the old loan system. No, the only beneficiaries are the universities (although not 90% of their employees) and the government.

So what do you think, voters? How can we, as a voting force, work together to end this stranglehold the UK government has on us? We want to hear your ideas to fix what is becoming a very, very broken system, one which stifles recent graduates and the UK economy as a whole. 

The most intriguing graphic from GE2017 so far. Why?

The only employment status to vote more for the Tories than for Labour was Retired.

Working Britain is being over-ruled by the old. Who’s being silenced? The young!

Every young person who doesn’t vote compounds the problem. Don’t be that person. Don’t let your friends be that person.

We will be living in this country long after the retired have passed on. 

Keep on fighting. Keep the momentum. Keep shouting until young voices are heard.

They’re the focus of every political blogger today: just what is going on with the DUP.

Just last week, they were an unknown fringe party this side of the Irish Sea.

On Thursday, they looked like the most important party in Britain, that final puzzle piece that would give the Tories their majority in Parliament - if some sort of deal could be arranged.

Now? That deal looks very, very shaky.

The Queen’s Speech, after a 2 day postponement, is tomorrow. An official deal with the DUP has not yet been agreed. Without some sort of official deal in place, it will be a lot more difficult for the Tories to pass their laws through the House of Commons.

The DUP say the UK are taking them for granted. At this stage, it looks like one of the major stumbling blocks is the DUP’s demand for the removal of air passenger duty in NI (the tax you pay to fly from UK airports, payable on booking). The Tories are hesitant to consent to this in case it leads to similar calls from Scotland, Wales and England.

It looks like the public will have to wait until tomorrow to see if the DUP deal can be made in time.

Whatever’s going on, it’s certainly nothing strong nor stable.

Sources:

The Guardian

BBC News

Latest YouGov poll suggests voter turnout among 18-24s much lower than expected.

This is likely as a result of the inflated figure touted by the Metro, which was in fact referencing estimated turnout in Tottenham alone (around 72%).

Turnout figures are still way up on the 2015 general election.

What the figures suggest is that progress has been made, but much work remains to really bring young voters into the political conversation. 

Yes, Young Voters UK has come out of retirement and we’re bigger and more involved than ever.

If you’re still interested in UK politics (and we really hope you are!) give us a look on our new site.