Kier starmer! He hates strivers!

[Bucketheadbucketbum]

He wants to introduce a policy to put up the cost of school fees 10 to 15%. This is a tax on hard-working parents! We slave away cutting cots everywhere living hand to mouth to try and improve our childrens future . Live in an average house average area 1 shit car no holidays work like a dog to get our kids through. We are easing the burden on the state system by choosing independent schools. We're not sending them to Eton paid by our trust fund! Why does he want to punish strivers! Tax the energy companies! So disappointed. We need a new political party. What's the point in trying to better your future.

One of the first beneficiaries of the National Lottery? Eton College. 1m for new swimming pool. Winchester College just handed 6m by Sunak. Charities, you know. Don't fret about public schools, they won't be going anywhere and will keep turning out politicians for us ill-educated plebs who keep them there.

My DC go to Private school.
Its not Eton or the like and it’s certainly not paid for from a trust fund, neither of us come from money in the slightest.
However, their school isn’t a charity and I don’t see why other Private schools should be.
I also have no idea what the link between sending your DC Private and being a “striver” is

You could always save some money by sending your children to a state school like the rest of us.
Just an idea.....

Norman Tebbit was fond of the phrase, 'politics of envy'. Apropos of nothing, just establishing the political landscape one might occupy.

No - no one on here has been able to argue why private schools are a business. I’ve asked several times and have yet to share an actual answer that isn’t “but rich people”

This has got to be a windup surely? No one could be this dense. Of course private schools shouldn't have charity status and be taxed accordingly. Why shouldn't they?

Personally I don’t like or trust Starmer, I believe some 900,000 children go to private schools, is there room for all of them in already overcrowded state schools?

👍

Right?!

"No - no one on here has been able to argue why private schools are a business. I’ve asked several times and have yet to share an actual answer that isn’t “but rich people”

Surely it's a business because you pay money for services.

@tobee I've had experience of both and it definitely was the case with my DC. TA the state school they had to go at a slower pace for the students that needed more time and DS was bored. At his private school they are all of the same ability so can whizz through the content and in his first year of A levels they will have covered half the syllabus by Christmas. That would have never happened in state school.

@Lightowl equally I've yet to hear an argument why they're a charity?

I'm all ears.

It’s not ‘spite’, it’s not ‘politics of envy’ it’s removal of charitable status for what are, in the main, wealthy, profitable businesses. It’s removal of the charity status loophole, not an extra tax to punish ‘strivers’.

Lots of complaining io the thread, but no one seems to be able to justify why private schools should be classed as charities.

(full disclosure, I was privately educated on a scholarship, my children are state educated)

Funny how it's politics of envy until I point out I'm not envious because I am actually quite well off. That's the point when the phrase champagne socialist comes out.

You're only out by a third of a million and only a fraction would be affected by this policy.

Yes you’ve got it.

Some just can't fathom that some well-off folks want a fairer society and shock horror actually vote Labour.

The governments own definition if a charity is:
*In England and Wales, a charity is an organisation that is:

established for charitable purposes only, and
subject to the High Court’s charity law jurisdiction
Purposes are what your charity is set up to achieve - they are explained in your governing document. To be charitable, your charity’s purposes must:

fall within the descriptions of purposes
be for the public benefit*

A profit making business serving a very small section of society (who on the whole are paying for their services) is not a charity.

Last figures I saw, 5.8% of all school children go to Independent schools, about 600,000. Why do you think that all of them would move into the state sector due to this policy?

My daughter is in a small cheap private village school - no trust funds or rich alumni, no fancy resources . It was opened 20 years ago by a parents collaborative when the council closed one of the two village primary schools - in the to be closed school’s building - it’s and old Victorian four room building, pretty run down, just a yard - no fancy playing fields etc and probably wouldn’t meet the councils minimum standards for things like wheelchairs etc but it’s a sweet small school with good links to the community.

There was no local state place for her at the other village school. We did apply it’s very full, new housing development was supposed to have a school but guess what it wasn’t built. Only state option we were offered was 9 miles away in the nearest city - would have been a bus/taxi alone at 4yrs old to get to school.

we therefore have paid for her to go private to the village school - the one the council closed. I worry that an increase in fees will cause the school to fold - it doesn’t make a profit, most parents are like us - no reasonable state option, no big rich history of prep schools etc.

if the school folds I don’t see the cash strapped council taking it on. Where will my daughter and her schoolmates go to school?

im not against there being no private schools, I never thought I would be a private school parent but there was no other choice. I’d be very happy with universal state only education but first of all there needs to be a plan to provide local appropriate state places for all children. You can’t act to close private schools without a plan to educate the thousands of children currently in the private system

@BacklogBritain Interesting idea but I have a feeling it won't benefit the OP. From what they have written already I'd be amazed if their income is less than £150k a year which no one can claim to be a lower income.

Some very simple maths/economics:

Save £20000 on fees (low estimate), spend it elsewhere, providing at least £4000 in VAT revenue. A further proportion of that spend is taxed as profits and income. Add revenue from 20% of fees. We've now covered at least the £6800 we need for a secondary place. This is without factoring in the added political pressure to improve state education once the precious and special children of the currently privately educated have to work side by side with us oiks. Oh, and free up some of the mythical, brilliant private school teachers to have a crack at year 9, Friday afternoon in an ordinary comp.