Student loans

Pennies pinching Sir: I agree with much of this week’s editorial, except for two points (‘Nunc dimittis’, 25 April). As a formerly Positively Vetted civil servant, I cannot see what point there is in vetting an applicant for a job if the outcome of the vetting (as opposed of course to the private details) is not made known to the appointer. Who was responsible for this not happening in the current case still remains obscure. The second point I take issue with is your pressing for the end of the triple lock for pensions. I wish you would suggest how pensioners who have the ‘full’ state pension, and just enough more to put them over the threshold for Pension Credit, are expected to live?

When self-styled ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis gate-crashed Kemi Badenoch’s Good Morning Britain interview to reprimand the Conservative leader over her plans to cut the interest on student loans, he failed to mention that she was addressing a crisis for which he carries a little of the blame. For years, Lewis has encouraged prospective students not to be put off by tuition fees, arguing that the loans should be thought of as a ‘graduate contribution system’ rather than traditional debt. This was an investment in their futures, easily paid off through the higher earnings a degree would confer. But the system has become a tax on aspiration.