Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to abolish university tuition fees would force society’s lowest earners to massively subsidise the free education of a wealthy elite. A Centre for Policy Studies report out today says Labour’s plans “would effectively act as a subsidy from comparatively less wealthy non-graduates to graduates”. Since graduates earn on average £9,500 more a year than non-graduates, under Corbyn’s policy poorer taxpayers would foot the bill to enable a privileged few to enjoy higher salaries. For the few, not the many…

The study finds:

• The cost of repealing university tuition fees and re-introducing maintenance grants is equivalent to putting 2.8 percentage points on the basic rate of income tax. A “significant” impact on taxpayers…
• Corbyn’s infamous “deal with it” pledge on existing debts implied cash would be spent on amelioration. That means appropriating yet more cash from poorer non-graduates to wealthier graduates…
• Scotland has no tuition fees, yet a lower proportion of its disadvantaged students go to university. So the policy when applied doesn’t even achieve its stated aim…

As the report admits, there is clearly a sense that “intergenerational unfairness” is an issue, especially among young voters. It suggests helping young people to get on the housing ladder would be a better way of addressing this. In defence of his plans, Jez has repeatedly dishonestly claimed that fewer disadvantaged young people are going to university. He is exploiting the credulity of youth…