To think parents of private education school children will be fine

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I’ve seen lots of threads on this topic recently. It would be great to have it’s own section so those who want to chat about it with fellow parents , can without an argument.

But private school parents and their children!! We will be just fine. There’s so much smugness and bitterness and hate coming from people who think it’s great the VAT will be added and force some out. In fact I don’t disagree - add VAT on ! Great, and then we can take either our state places up … win win we have more money to spend on holidays, deposits for houses for our kids, private tutors, extra cirricular activities etc and we can probably move to better areas with the outstanding state schools or OR we pay it it we can afford to keep our children there.

On some of the independent school committees they are working out how to charge the fees differently so the actual fees we will pay 20% on are low and the rest of the money is on stuff that’s exempt from VAT. They are also looking at changing the nature of the schools so the children get their state education allowance and then pay extras on top- like you would nursery extras.

The chance of labour implementing it is low. There are solicitors looking at it now and whether they can change the law to allow it.

So either way we’re not in a bad position - as most of the threads argue we are the wealthiest in The UK- some can’t afford food bills etc so we are incredibly lucky to have choice and it is true we must have money to
even contemplate spending £25k on each child in school.

That's a clumsy bit of maths there.

There are schools which have teacher shortages due to budgetary constraints, there are schools that don't.

There are schools, like Camden School for Girls, who have been impacted by the budget cuts in a way that it means that the no longer can provide A level classes in subjects when the demand to study that subject is from very few students. There are others who can't afford to bring in a maths specialist in primary/or for early years in secondary.

The spending is going to be focused.

But hey, you keep up with the quick maths, man's not hot.

And do you know how much they have allocated for each nursery? £11,000. Total pie in the sky.

There are already 2500 vacancies in state schools. Where are the new teachers coming from?

The big picture is that they could improve state schools without impacting the private sector so ask yourself why they are imposing this VAT policy.

"t the private sector so ask yourself why they are imposing this VAT policy."

Maybe so they can say that they aren't doing it from general tax rises? Go look at the thread on Labour and tax and see what a shower of shit it is when anyone suggests that people could pay a bit more,

Maybe, because private schooling has an inelastic PED, the increase in price will have a far smaller corresponding change in demand meaning it will actually raise some money?

Although am sure your reason will be far more fun.

I don't need to ask myself. I know. Whether the policy raises enough to fund the plans against it in the manifesto or not, it will undeniably raise money the country greatly needs. Importantly it will do so without alienating the vast majority of the electorate who couldn't care less about school fees, while actively appealing to those who see private education as a significant contributor to social inequality. Its a clever policy that is only unpopular with the small minority it effects, a minority that struggles to marshal much support for its cause. So really the better question would be why on earth wouldn't they?

It won’t raise much if anything at all. If 10% of children are removed from private schools, it raises nothing. You have just admitted that it’s a policy that pits the majority against the minority. An election gimmick that creates vitriol in the same way that the Brexit campaign focused on immigration. It’s not clever, it’s nasty.

Even the most successful schools are struggling to fill some roles. My oldest son goes to one of the highest performing state schools in the country and he has been without a chemistry teacher for part of the year. Nothing to do with budgets.

If the school has decided to make these cuts before it's even certain that the policy will be enacted, when or what the effect will be, it strongly suggests that they are already in financial difficulties for other reasons, and are choosing to blame their problems on vat (labour) rather than government mismanagement of the economy (Tories).

Its hardly appropriate to compare people paying for private education with refugees, merely on the basis they are both minorities. Simply being part of a group of whom there are few, does not afford you victim status just because the majority fail to support your interests, and a failure to support your interests is not the same as demonising you. No more than a change of policy that is going to be more expensive for you means you are a victim of discrimination.

There are all sorts of other things that come into play, comparative advantage, privilege and power, that mean the two things are entirely different.

Not to mention, I've seen no evidence of an attempt to pit anyone against people who pay school fees. As I said before, the majority don't care, and those who disagreed with the VAT exemption or with private education in principle haven't been led there by this campaign. They are typically long held views based on the sort of society people would prefer to see.

Nope a fair world is where nobody gets shat on, especially the most vulnerable in society.

It says a lot that you think rich people having to pay their way is them being shat on.

How are ‘rich’ people not already paying their way?

Easy, they quadrupled their wealth under the first four years of the coalition.

Another poster on another thread said it better than me.

’When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression’

This may be true, but it still doesn’t explain why you think they’re not paying their way.

For them to have quadrupled their wealth, they will have been given a load of tax breaks I’m assuming. And whatever taxes they are paying clearly are not funding the NHS or any other public service.

Nobody needs or deserves so much wealth that disabled people should pay the price by having all their support systems taken away.

Really…..?!?!?

Sigh, more "personal experience" to counter general points

I hope you weren't privately educated.

It says a lot that you think rich people having to pay their way is them being shat on.

Income wealthy people already pay their way through tax - a lot of it. It's mad to suggest they don't.

The problem is not the higher rate taxpayers paying large amounts of tax. The problem is the chronic mismanagement of public finances by the government. The wastage has been criminal. Wealthy people who pay their tax are not responsible for disabled people having their support services cut, just as immigrants also aren't the responsible. Blame the people in charge of managing the country's finances - that is who is actually responsible.

"Income wealthy people already pay their way through tax - a lot of it. It's mad to suggest they don't."

They pay a lower rate than they would in many other advanced countries, other taxes like CGT and CT etc are lower too.

What a ridiculous assumption and even more ridiculous generalisation of people using PE! Might want to try getting rid of that chip on your shoulder - not a good look!

It's not an assumption - it is a published fact.

Also, I don't have any reason to have a chip on my shoulder.

This government has certainly created a culture of people with massively entitled attitudes though.

But it's their brand of politics to cut money from public services. Anyone else remember the draughty cabins children had to be educated in under Thatcher? This time it's Thatcherism on steroids.

It is not a published fact that all private school parents have quadrupled their wealth under the last Government. Your comment shows you have no idea about private school parents. Most of us are taxed PAYE and are worse off. Or are you denying that the tax burden is the highest it’s been for 70 years? As with state school parents, our mortgages, rent, bills etc have increased and our salaries haven’t kept pace with inflation. Those of us that earn above the threshold have lost our child benefit.

Why would you think I was? I have said plenty of times on here that I was educated in a state comp.

And your sighing and other digs just make you come across as rude. They add nothing to your arguments.

It’s a known fact that there is a teacher retention and recruitment problem and it is impacting many schools, include the top state schools and some private schools.