To marvel at privately educated Keir Starmer's hypocrisy?

[Bursarysadness]

Both Kier Starmer and his wife are privately educated. Kier's senior school converted into a private school in the second year of his attendance and he has received a generous full bursary up until his A levels. He has built his life and his success on this education, supported to the end by the bursary funded by the same schools and parents he is now trying to destroy. It pains me as my children receive 50% bursaries from a brilliant local school. We've worked incredibly hard to cover the remaining 50% but it has been worth it, seeing how my children blossomed. We had a very different experience in their primary state schools, including bullying and racism. We don't live in a great area. We have just been told that the school will probably reduce all their bursaries to be able to lower the fees for the non bursary parents who are now struggling because of the VAT introduction. I don't know what the future for my children is now and they have so many close friends where they are. They are both academically brilliant and work very hard - hence the bursaries were granted. I feel so depressed that, from what is becoming obvious, they won't be able to benefit from the generosity of bursaries the same way Kier Starmer did when he was a child ..

Aww maybe you just need to work harder OP.

In fact , all children's clothes and shoes are VAT exempt. You didn't know this right?

@senmama007 I don’t wear children’s clothes and shoes - which is why I referred to VAT on my clothes. Reading for comprehension may not be your strong suit.

Still no one explaining why private education should be VAT exempt though.

Nope.

Because he is rich enough to be able to live near good schools. Most people can't afford to.

He didn't go to a private school, and he didn't get a bursary - there were no fees for the existing students.

And even if he had, he can still believe VAT should be payable.
Even in some hypothetical scenario where he'd gone to Eton and was now proposing banning private schools completely, it still wouldn't be hypocrisy, because it would have been his parents' decision. Can we not disagree with things our parents did in their parenting without being called hypocrites?

It’s not double standards. I am a professional and earn a decent salary. I used private education for a while. I chose to live in a nice area and chose the best school for DC. I still think that we live in a society where it is really hard to get yourself out of poverty if you are born into it. I still believe that my DC are not more deserving of a good education that other children. I can make the best choices for my DC whilst still believing in and fighting for, more equality, better prospects for all etc.

Because there are no taxes on education. Otherwise, they would charge tax on uni and further education fees too or tax the £50 school supplement many give to support building maintenance at church schools.

Well, where do we stop? Tax on books next? The thing is, private school parents pay tax like everyone else. But they save other tax payers money because their children don't take up a place in the state system.

I pay tax like everyone else and still
pay VAT on goods, services and commodities that are considerably more essential than private education. I’m not sure parents sending their child to private school is thinking “this’ll save the national tax bill X amount”, so I’m not convinced that’s any reason to give tax breaks to people wealthy enough to afford school fees.

Boarding schools.

I work in a school and the amount of parents that do not care, that when you tell them that their child has behaved this way, or not done any homework, actually say its not my problem you deal with this.

So?? Of course he lives in the best place available to him, does his best for his children. Should he give away his hard earned money and live in mud hut with no electricity just so he can avoid being labelled a hypocrite? I am comfortably off. It doesn’t mean I can’t acknowledge my privilege and fight for equality. It doesn’t mean I can’t be utterly outraged by the appalling inequality in our society.

OP I agree with you wholeheartedly! However I feel MN is the last place to vent about something like this. People are so ‘woe is me’ here that you might think it’s a competition about who has it worse in life. No foresight. Nothing

Yep. Deeply boring

Everyone seems to think their own children’s set of circumstances are unique and the exception. They aren’t. If they are bright then they will do well in life

@5128gap I do agree with you. Some of the comments from people against VAT have been incendiary, taunting or hurtful. As someone who will never be able to afford private school for my children, regardless of what's best for them, it has been hard not to take some of the comments personally i.e. suggestions good parents are doing whatever they can to send their kids or private or all us private school parents will gang up and push your kids into even shitter schools... Ouch...

However, seeing the division going on at the moment I suppose I'm trying to approach this, and all debates, in good faith. It just seems to me this is bringing out the worst in both sides when we are actually all people who want the best for our children and people facing VAT are naturally very stressed. Any change or move is stressful.

For me, its been interesting understanding how much people are sacrificing for private schools, really running themselves to the ground. Why do they think state schools are sooo much worse, what are their fears, what of those fears are real (lack of SEN provision, large class sizes, overworked teachers) and what has been scaremongering.

The resources of people that dedicated to the education of their kids will be amazing in the state sector, we can raise the bar for everyone. Let's all get onside.

Naive? Probably, but its all Ive got.

Of course he was educated privately. At sixth form on a bursary. You’re the one who is letting facts get in the way.

Because there are no taxes on education.

Except the government want to change that, and I can’t see any reason not to. There are lots of things I use that would be more affordable without VAT, and some I couldn’t afford regardless. That’s not a reason to not impose tax.

This is enlightening & why my kids will go to private school even if it means bankrupting myself!

@Jellycatspyjamas I think you should brush up on your comprehension/ logic skills... Education is for children, same as children's shoes and clothes? We hope you don't wear children's clothes

Read post by @Allthisdrama who is a teacher...

So you would also believe that if just one child was offered a place at a public school that they are given the chance, instead of being in a school with pupils having fights, distrupting lessons, not caring.

I wonder why you have used a private school for a while?

And to add to that my friend teaches at my local state comp. She told me not to send my kids there. That’s a good enough reason for me.

@Allthisdrama put it perfectly at 17:56

Education is for children, same as children's shoes and clothes? We hope you don't wear children's clothes

I hope education extends well beyond children, but I can see the point you’re trying to make in linking this particular change however private primary and secondary education without doubt is a luxury whatever way you look at it and should be taxed accordingly.

Private schools don't need to pass on the VAT amount, they can have larger class sizes, delay that IT suite upgrade, don't fix the leaking roof, have more TA's, less music lesson or none.

You know just like the state sector has had to do.

They will be a smaller percentage.

Ah yes, a good old race to the bottom.