Does introducing VAT on school fees in the middle of the school year show Keir Starmer's cruel indifference to parents and children? Or that he just hasn't thought it through? asks Mr Chips.
Labour claims its Education Tax on private schools is to raise revenue for the state sector. But it's unlikely to do that – and no wonder when the policy's architect is clear that it wants private schools to disappear.
The so-called Conservative party has mooted removing non-dom tax status as a way of raising more tax revenue. It's unlikely to work, says Mr Chips. Focusing on creating value would be a much better place to start.
As Labour plans to hike private school fees by slapping 20% VAT on them, will overstretched state schools even be able to squeeze in the tens of thousands of pupils predicted to be pushed out of the independent sector?
Keir Starmer has claimed Labour's policy of slapping 20% VAT on private schooling will raise £1.7bn in tax revenue. But no evidence supports that claim because it fails to allow for pupils leaving for the state sector.
On school choice, the rest of the world is moving in the right direction, while Labour proposes the opposite. But the UK even funds private schools for poor children in Africa. So why not here?
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is wrong to assume that Labour's school fees tax grab won't make private education unaffordable for many, an economist argues.
An economics teacher at a private school has looked at Labour's proposal to raise £1.7 billion from charging VAT on school fees and concluded it won't in fact raise any money.
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