To be completely shocked by this - Bridget can’t tell us the impact of the government’s VAT on Education?

[Sasskitty]

Bridget Phillipson dodges question on impact of private school tax raid

As parents and schools complain of chaos, Ms Phillipson refuses to spell out details of the assessment made by the department for education

Bridget Phillipson failed to spell out the full impact of the government’s private school VAT raid, dodging the question when asked about the possible implications for special education schools.

While she said the government has “looked at all of the potential impacts”, her answer failed to provide any real detail on the expected consequences.

It comes as parents and schools complain about the implications of the tax raid, which came into force on New Year’s Day and is expected to raise £1.5bn for the Treasury.

YABU - Bridget Phillipson has it all in hand. She just didn’t feel like answering the pesky question. The point is to piss rich people off. Leave Labour alone, they want nothing but erm oh I’m not sure.

YANBU - Phillipson clearly has no idea what the impact of VAT on Education will be. Nor does she really care as long as she’s seen to be punishing those horrible rich people. Or even better (it seems) the not really rich ones just trying to improve the education of their children as the available state schools were not suitable.

https://apple.news/AO7fcmrzuRaik4stLaPQxwA

(sorry paywall but there’s not much more in the article)

PS. I’ve removed the poll tally, no one needs to see real data. Do they?

Of course you can post on threads. As I said very clearly in my second post, I would just rather you didn't engage directly with me for the reasons I clearly stated (vitriolic, hyperbolic and inaccurate posting). There is a big difference between that and trying to throw posters off threads because you just want posters with the same views.

I think the real problem and rift here is between those who want to just follow principles and those who are more pragmatic and want a clear plan as to what the real life consequences are of just blindly applying principles. I am in the latter category and from all I have read about the adverse impact on smaller and weaker independent schools catering precisely to those who have been failed by the state, the more I feel uncomfortable with this policy.
It is the same with the NI increases. I feel strongly employers should pay a living wage and contribute to the pot for all, but I think the timing was totally off. And it just makes our politicians look out of touch with reality. The last lot were completely out of touch and most of us were hoping for the current lot to be more reality focussed and tuned in to the Zeitgeist, I believe they may be learning and I think it isn’t too late to backtrack on this policy. But the longer they leave it, the worse the consequences will be. I fully understand they have dug themselves in a hole but perhaps they will actually welcome a loss in the judicial review case as it could be a convenient way to back out without this blowing the party up. Because the last thing most of us want is another collapsed main political party.

I don't see @twistyizzy posts as below. They're mostly about the policy

Agreed, they have backed themselves into a corner with a shit policy that is bring picked apart at the seams each day. The court case would be the only legitimate face saving way of backing down.
They have had to water down Nom Dom policy, are heading that way with Farming Tax etc

I think it is vanishingly unlikely that this policy will be changed. The vast majority of children in private school are there by choice, not necessity.

I've said all along that it will be decided in court
If all the exemptions reach 25% then it becomes economically unviable. We are getting near that figure. Remember there were also a % who pre paid so will never pay VAT, this happened in the really elite schools such as Eton where parents could magic up 100s of 1000s to pre pay for the whole of their child's schooling. Those parents will never pay VAT yet they weren't deducted from the calculations

Katherine Birbalsingh is left wing and thinks Labour's education bill is catastrophic for children. She has an.actual record of success in educating deprived children. I think its reasonable to take what she says to be the truth.

thepienews.com/uk-private-school-vat-row-to-reach-high-court/#:~:text=The%20ISC's%20case%20argues%20that,European%20Convention%20on%20Human%20Rights.

I don't understand the exact detail of the court case, but couldn't the arguments that the ISC is using also be true of charging fees at all? Aren't fees in themselves discriminatory?

I don't think @twistyizzy 's posts are as you describe at all. I think you simply disagree with what she posts. She always sounds reasonable.

Depends on your vantage point I suppose. I suggest you RTFT.

She’s not the Children’s Commissioner. Rachel de Souza is.

I.haven't noticed anything particularly vitriolic.

It's an emotional.subject for many people,.particularly those affected and its hard to read some posts on here. I can't think of any other issue where posters would specifically take the time to come on a thread irrelevant to them and take such obvious delight in the misery of children, so perhaps we can all be a bit tolerant and kind to posters that get upset in defence of those children?

I know this. You are being "disingenuous"

So nothing vitriolic at all about saying you viscerally hate another person? Okaaaay.

I’m not. Your post implied that Katherine Birbalsingh is the Children’s Commissioner.

Not another person..Did she say "I viscerally hate you?" Sounds a bit weird?

One can viscerally hate what another person says particularly if they are attacking your child. Which post are you referring to? Some posters on here are awful.

You are a master of distraction.

The PP said the Charity Commissioner now.was attacking Labour's education policy.

You said well she would attack anything Labour do as she's a Boris appointment. (Ie right wing)

I said KB is left wing and also thinks Labour's education policy is shite. And she knows what she's talking about.

That's the point I am making. Apologies if you didn't get it.

It seems that most of us are rude, aggressive or unpleasant, according to a few posters.

Where did you get the idea that Katherine Birbalsingh is left wing?
She's fairly well known as being a conservative, do you mean that she is left wing when compared to the current conservative party views?

No she's always claimed to be left wing and said she's voted Labour in interviews. However she's a highly intelligent woman so she probably isn't left wing any more. Plus Labour hate her as she produces excellence in schools.

Anyway I suppose my point is (so we don't get sidetracked again) that she thinks Labour education policy is a disaster for children and she knows what she is talking about; probably more so than anyone in the UK.

She also opposes the VAT policy

Since you have asked specifically, reference Page 16 of this thread "I have never felt such visceral hate of a politician before as I do about her. She is vile."

Yes I agree - some posts on here really are awful.

Bridget Phillipson was unprofessional when she posted on social media openly about private schools? Secretary of State for Education is meant to include the education of ALL children, that includes homeschooled children and those in independent schools. She did probably fail in her duties in engaging with the independent sector?

I just assumed that is what that poster was talking about. Although I agree that as women we should not refer to female posters in a certain way. Even if they have not fulfilled their actual mandate.

In addition, the whole discussion about what is left wing and what is not, is quite divisive in itself. I find the Labour Party very champagne socialist, when I would describe myself and Barbalsingh as more left wing and I do reckon it has something to do with growing up in other countries for part of our youth. Where the biggest part of being left wing is not underestimating the vulnerable in society, but believing them to be able to do just as well as everyone else, with exactly the right amount of targeted help. It is about high aspiration for all. In that regard, I really do not agree with the current flavour of Labour education policies either. We are quite a multicultural society and I think it is important to listen to the different voices. I think too much central government interference with education policy is quite toxic. It should be left to those who know about education, educators. Central Government’s job is to provide decent amounts of funding, not ideology.