Letter: Plight of students

How did Lord Browne arrive at his £21,000 ceiling (or "basement") of earnings from students before starting to repay loans? I always thought one of the reasons for going to university was the aspiration to ensure one never earned less than £21,000.

I qualified in 1973 when a salary of 21,000 was regarded as a fortune. Today, by the time you are taxed and paying for education, you would be pushed to feed your chickens on it. Isn't that a bit like telling you that you only start paying road tax when your car goes faster than 21mph?

So it strikes me as a neat tax trick, and many young people will fall for it because they don't want to forever work in a pub…and thanks to our greedy bankers, amongst others, they have no choice today.

What could be more important than educating our young people? The doctors of the future, the cancer specialists, the artists, the engineers, the bricklayers, the joiners who do such inspiring work. Encourage them, teach them, draw out their creativity, but don't leave them in debt.

GORDON WATSON

Craigleith Hill Loan

Edinburgh