Labour’s private school tax raid ‘punishes’ non-elite parents

Tony Oulton runs Hulme Grammar School in Oldham – the most underprivileged borough in Manchester - Anna Wood Photography

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The headmaster of a private school in one of Britain’s most deprived areas has accused Labour of “punishing parents” who prioritise education.

Tony Oulton, who runs Hulme Grammar School in Oldham – the most underprivileged borough in Manchester, according to census data – said the party’s policy misrepresents parents and schools.

Even without the Labour policy, Hulme’s fees are set to rise by 5.5pc next year. The school currently charges £9,840 a year for infants and juniors, and £13,470 for senior school and sixth-form pupils.

Mr Oulton told Sky News: “The sector is not Eton or Harrow or Winchester, the big posh boarding schools largely based in the south of England.

“The majority is made up of schools like mine where parents are making real sacrifices to pay the school fees because that’s how they are choosing to prioritise their spending.”

He said: “I lament the political debate, the loss of nuance and insight into the impact on children.

“The idea they are buying privilege and separation would not resonate with parents here.

“They don’t recognise the rhetoric that sits around this, that they are part of some privileged elite.”

If elected, Labour plans to impose 20pc VAT on private school fees – a cost that will most likely be passed onto parents in the form of higher annual bills, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents around 1,300 private schools.

The party argues the tax raid will raise £1.7bn a year which can be spent on education, including 6,500 new state school teachers.

In October, Mr Oulton told The Telegraph that the policy would result in parents being “priced out” of private education.

He said: “Few of the parents are writing a cheque [to pay the school fees] without making a significant dent in their finances – they are making real sacrifices to pay those fees.

“We aren’t the sort of school that can cushion them and some of those parents will be priced out.”

Mr Oulton told The Telegraph a “good” number of Hulme’s 730 pupils are funded through bursaries, which provide free uniforms, PE kit and two free school trips a year – including one domestic and one international trip.

A total of 183,434 pupils in Britain currently receive help with private school fees, according to the ISC. An estimated 80pc of assistance is provided directly from the schools themselves.

The lobby group has previously warned that imposing VAT on private schools risks forcing a fifth of children out of the sector – equivalent to 40,000 pupils.

Last week, one of Britain’s top constitutional and human rights lawyers warned that the tax raid would likely breach ECHR law.

The Labour manifesto of 1983, under former leader Michael Foot, pledged to “charge VAT on the fees paid to [private] schools”.

However, the policy was eventually shot down by senior lawyers, who argued it would likely breach international human rights law to which Britain is signed up.

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