Rishi Sunak accuses Labour of stoking a ‘class war’ over its pledge to charge VAT on private school fees

Rishi Sunak has accused Labour of ‘punishing’ parents by stoking a ‘class war’ with its pledge to charge VAT on private school fees.

The Prime Minister said the party would be ‘clamping down’ on hard-working parents with aspirations to send their children to independent schools.

His comments came after Labour’s education spokesman refused to back down from the widely criticised policy, warning private schools would have to make ‘cutbacks’.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson told a Mumsnet online discussion yesterday that schools should ‘reflect on where they could be making savings’ to cover the proposed VAT hike. She said: ‘I’ve always been focused on how we end the tax breaks and how we then use that money to deliver high standards in our state schools.’

Mr Sunak told BBC South Today: ‘Labour’s approach illustrates that they just don’t understand the aspiration of families like my parents who were working really hard. They wanted to do something for their kids that they thought would make a difference to them. Labour’s approach to that is to clamp down on it.

The Prime Minister said the party would be ‘clamping down’ on hard-working parents with aspirations to send their children to independent schools

Labour has U-turned on plans to abolish the charitable status of private schools but insisted it would still add VAT to fees (Pictured: Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves) 

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‘They don’t understand the aspiration that people have to provide a better life for their kids. They want to punish them for that as part of some class war. I don’t think that is right.’

Labour has U-turned on plans to abolish the charitable status of private schools but insisted it would still add VAT to fees. The policy could hit families with unaffordable charges from as early as next September.

Labour, citing a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, believes changes to the tax rules could raise as much as £1.5 billion per year.

But Shaun Fenton, headteacher at Sir Keir’s former school Reigate Grammar, said the policy of abolishing VAT relief on school fees was ‘not going to help any child be better educated’.

Reigate Grammar in Surrey switched from being a state to an independent school while Sir Keir was in attendance.

Mr Fenton predicted the added tax would drive ‘thousands’ of children into the state system as parents are priced out by the hike in fees. He told Times Radio: ‘Everyone knows this isn’t really going to raise any money and it’s not going to solve any education problems’.

Last night Labour said Mr Sunak’s comments showed how ‘out of touch’ the Prime Minister was. Ms Phillipson said: ‘The Prime Minister’s words are an insult to the aspiration families across Britain have for their children.

‘Yet again, he is out of touch with families and out of step with the change we need.

‘We’re ending tax breaks for private schools to invest in excellent state education for everyone – it is up to private schools as to whether they pass that cost on.’