Sir Keir Starmer told students that a Labour government had no plans to abolish tuition fees because the country could not afford it.
The Labour leader was asked about the fees during a question-and-answer session with around 20 A-level students from three schools in Liverpool, hosted by the Liverpool Echo newspaper.
James Moran, a student at The Blue Coat School in Wavertree, asked Sir Keir if a Labour government would consider slashing interest rates on student loans or abolishing tuition fees.
Sir Keir said: “One of the things I was initially attracted to was abolishing tuition fees. Having now looked at the state of the country’s finances, I think that’s impossible and therefore we won’t make that choice.
“Some people say, ‘Well you said you wanted to abolish tuition fees and now you don’t’.
“The truth is, the state of the finances as you will have seen, has changed and difficult choices have to be made.”
Isaac Banks, a student at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Crosby, asked how Labour would close the attainment gap between state and privately educated youngsters.
Sir Keir, who said he had two children himself, both in state schools, responded: “We need to completely level up. It shouldn’t make any difference whether you go to private school or a state school. And at the moment, it does make a difference.
“I am genuinely still shocked that for quite a number of young people, where they are going to get to in life is still more determined by what their parents earn than their own ability.
“That is completely wrong. That’s why I’ve said we have got to shatter the class ceiling, because it is a class ceiling.”
Olivia Forman, from Calderstones School in Allerton, south Liverpool, asked why Sir Keir had banned shadow ministers from picket lines and told him they should instead “show solidarity” with striking workers.
Sir Keir said Labour’s purpose was to represent working people in Parliament but that the party had previously lost sight of that – and lost elections.
He added: “I’m running a political party. And I want the Labour Party to form the next government.
“Trade unions are running their unions and are sticking up for their workers.
“My job is to join with them in a partnership that takes us into power.
“And most of the unions say, ‘What’s more use to me Keir, is that we get a Labour government that can actually improve the rights of working people. That’s the single most important thing.”
Stephanie Currie, a student at Blue Coat, told Sir Keir she wanted to be an investment banker but said all the courses available were concentrated at universities in the south of England.
Sir Keir said the UK desperately needed to grow the economy, but growth had to come from the regions not just by “turbo charging” London and the South East.
He added: “Too many people have to leave the place they grew up in in order to get the job they want. That shouldn’t be the way life is. It shouldn’t be that that’s the norm.
“If you think of the innovation, the potential of places like Liverpool, its huge.
“And if you had a government that matched the ambition of people here, you would be really motoring.
“So that’s what I mean by ‘levelling up’, not this government’s approach, which is they will decide what’s good for you.”
Lois Rigby, another student at Sacred Heart, told Sir Keir she wanted to study cybersecurity.
He replied: “Well, after the arrests in Parliament and Chinese spies, we’re going to need you sooner rather than later, so you need to get on that course.”
