Keir Starmer blasted over broken leadership pledge: 'Says one thing then does another!'
The PM promised to axe tuition fees during his 2020 Labour leadership bid.
Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire after it emerged tuition fees are set to rise for the first time in eight years.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is expected to announce the hike in the Commons this afternoon.
It will see fees increase in line with the Retail Price Index inflation and will come into force from next September.
The Prime Minister pledged to scrap university tuition fees when he ran to be Labour leader in 2020 but last year admitted the promise would be ditched if he won the election.
Tory MP Neil O'Brien wrote on X: "Starmer says one thing then does another."
Left-wing MP Zarah Sultana, who had the Labour whip suspended for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, added: "The Government’s increase to tuition fees is wrong.
"Students shouldn’t have to pay tuition this year, or any year. It’s time to abolish tuition fees and cancel student debt because education is a public good, not a commodity."
Tuition fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017.
It is not clear which month’s inflation figures Labour will choose to link fees to.
But matching them to September's rate of 2.7% would see a jump to £9,500 from next year.
Sir Keir admitted last year that Labour was set to abandon its promise to scrap university tuition fees in England if it won power.
Blaming the economy, he said the party was "likely to move on from that commitment".
Tuition fees for university were introduced by Labour under Tony Blair, before being tripled under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
