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

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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.