To ask if anyone is clued up on the challenge this week to VAT on school fees?

I genuinely can’t understand why you are so pro this policy, what is the advantage of it? Long term it just reduces education choice and costs the tax payer more, how is this a good thing? Your motivation comes across as purely an irrational spite thing against these children.

Wealthy don’t think they’re wealthy though - the top 10% of earners in the U.K. don’t ‘feel’ well off apparently.
It’s all context. I grew up poor, but am now top 5% earner. DP also WC, now top 1% -
we feel very well off. I have friends with similar household incomes who are from money who DON’T think they’re wealthy at all.
that top 1% starts at around £180k salary but goes up to millions… but anyone earning £180k thinking they aren’t well off are delusional. Even if they don’t feel like they can afford private school fees…

I don’t assume anything, it’s irrelevant- if you can’t afford private schools fees, don’t pay them. If you can’t afford it on £50k then don’t use them, if you can’t afford it on £100k then don’t use them. Simples.

What income do you class as wealthy?
90k ie salary of an MP?
60K?
50K?
40K?
Or do you assume people using indy school are on 100K+?

These screenshot are a tiny % of no places. There are 100s of others.
You can deny its happening but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
There are also lots of examples where LAs are having to pay for taxis as no places locally.

No, in secondary we are still seeing bulge years work through. Numbers don't start falling until 2029

Nah. There are plenty of school places.
our child population is dropping. Our city is one of many merging primary schools, and redrawing secondary boundaries as they will need 100s less places in the next few years.
But of course private parents scaremongering are taking screenshots of oversubscribed schools and saying ‘Look, no places!’ While there will be several others in the district with plenty of places.

Love, they aren’t going to lose. Pay the tax or use state schools like the majority of people in the country. If you can’t afford private school, then don’t pay for it.
Cut your cloth accordingly, isn’t that the mantra when it comes to WC people worrying how they’ll heat their homes, feed their kids decent food, and still have money to have the odd luxury?
Well, same goes for the wealthy.
And quite frankly, anyone bleating that they can’t afford another 20% on top of the £20/30/40k plus that they’re paying to have their children privately educated need to give their heads a good wobble and question why on gods green earth they’ve been conned into paying SO much to these businesses for something that should be free. IMHO.

I don’t think your screenshots prove what you think they do.

The first email appears to be from one specific school saying they don’t have spaces.

The second email names a school with a space and provides travel options.

The third, similar to the first, just says there’s no spaces at the preferred schools, not no spaces at all.

The fourth is advising that it would not be a good idea to transfer schools in year 11, not saying it’s impossible. VAT has been known about for a long time, and if a parent can’t afford the VAT for two months (even if it means getting in debt) then they should have changed schools before year 11.
Get into debt for two terms of VAT and pay it off with the money saved from going state for post 16.

The final one is a lot closer to proving your point, I’ll give you that.

@SerendipityJane you think these are a benefit ie kids being left with no school places? These are a tiny number of examples of parents being told 0 places available.
This is a car crash of a policy and at end of the day it is kids who are being impacted

You mean as long as everyone suffers?
Or is your passive aggressive comment because you think I voted Leave? FFS people can disagree with Labour without being a right winger/Leave votes you know.

In July 2015, Greece introduced VAT on private school fees as part of a series of measures aimed at helping to address the country’s financial crisis. VAT at 23% was added to Greek private school fees, which accounted at the time for around 7% of the total pupil population.

The consequences were dire – with the tax disproportionately burdening lower- and middle-income families, an estimated 20,000 pupils were pushed to state schools, which were neither prepared nor equipped to deal with such an inflow of children. The result was increased class sizes, strained resources, and widespread disruption across the country.

The comparison to current UK situation is becoming more and more alike. 1000s parents being told 0 spaces available and kids being withdrawn in GCSE + Alevel years facing possibility of having to start from scratch as subjects/exam boards aren't available in the allocated state schools.

Well it fits in with all the other benefits of Brexit though. Reduced trade, loss of skilled workers. I think as long as everyone benefits equally, it's a triumph.

You think turfing kids out of schools in which they are settled and happy, many in GCSE + ALevel years, is a benefit? That's says a lot about you.

How can it be long overdue when prior to Brexit it was illegal?

Weirdly, as a remainer, I wondered what the Brexit benefits would be.

@Lookslikemeemaw - if they lose in court, they will have to retract it. So whoever advised them to go ahead or advised them to go ahead despite legal advice to the contrary, well, well, well…

How can it be long overdue when prior to Brexit it was illegal? We will now be only country in Europe to tax education. Do you think the rest of Europe is wrong to zero rate education as matter of principle?
Do you think it's overdue to turf out kids with SEN into state schools where SEN system is in chaos and bankrupting councils?

Why, you planning on suing? It’s happening, it’s long overdue.

Reeves is obsessed with private schools, you’ll struggle to find an interview where she doesn’t bring it up. Ellie is the same, it must be a family thing.

Phillipson, Reeves + Raynor have wanted to get rid of indy schools for years. So I think it comes directly from them hence the shitshow

Does anyone know who the political advisors are who devised and recommended these policies in the first place?

It's odd as I heard the PMQ line about Labour not caring for those who didn't vote for them and I don't think that's the correct line.

There are plenty of people who did vote for them who will now be turned away because Labour are implementing poor spiteful policies.

So it goes further than not caring about their non voters

Yes I agree with this. I am furious about the WFA.

Labour did get votes from people they have likely alienated now. I'm guessing that's why polls show such a drop in support.

Completely agree.