Labour blames private schools for ‘pricing out’ middle classes in row over VAT on fees

Exclusive: Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson defends new 20 per cent tax on private school fees to fund her Blair Mk II education revolution

Labour has hit back at criticism of its plans to impose VAT on private schools, blaming inflation-busting hikes in school fees over the years for “pricing out the middle classes”.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson suggested that above-inflation fee increases by private schools had made it politically easier for Labour to impose 20 per cent VAT on fees in order to fund 6,500 more state-school teachers. She said private schools had already “priced out” middle-class families.

“I think private schools, because they’ve whacked up their fees way beyond inflation, year after year, have priced themselves out of the reach of many middle-class parents who would, in the past, have looked to independent schools and might have considered it as an option,” she said.