How many kids have left the school? (VAT)

[limeandwater]

It's been long enough now that I think we can make a reasonable conclusion on how bad it has hurt school.

To be honest at our school I only know 3 pupils that have left because of the VAT so not as bad as many feared.

Still heartbreaking for the kids though.

@pottylolly - but why would you pay for that? Won’t your DC do well in any reasonable school anyway?

Where I am in London there are vacancies in primary schools now so a lot of people are enjoying moving their kids from one state primary to another to get away from friendship politics. I guess if you can, you will! And the schools are happy to take kids and there is more movement now as everyone is competing for funding.

@SavageTomato
I've heard it all now, "children's education tax". ,??? Fucking nuts to suggest it's a general tax. Enjoy tomorrow's Telegraph. And fuck you and all your family.

Wow! ‘Fuck you and all your family” eh?
When the revolution comes, will you favour the guillotine or firing squad? Or maybe a slower, more painful death?

From reading posts on this topic, there does seem
to be a huge misunderstanding around this policy. So many people seem to think it’s a tax on private schools/taking away charitable status and they get very defensive and angry when presented with the facts.

I think it's just political expediency to be stoking division so we're not all up in arms and protesting at the state of the nation/world but just turning on each other. Seems like we are all falling for it.

True but I think partly the anger is that people realise they’ve been duped by resentment politics, very few people like to think of themselves as the type of person who would vote for something like a tax on children’s education so it probably stings a little bit when they find out that’s exactly what they’re defending. Especially when they’ve been convinced they have the moral high ground on the issue. Labour really did a good job on whipping up the division on this, resentment identity politics might be their only trick but they do it very well.

Anyone who posts against private schools almost always goes on to say that they live near a fantastic state school....which they'll be paying £££ on their mortgage to have access too. Funny how that is never decried or subjected to the same nasty comments and fee paying parents.

@TooLittleTooLate2 Yes exactly, look at those 6 year olds over there..they’re to blame… vote for me and I’ll give them something to cry about.

I think anyone who thinks a different political party - Reform, Conservative will actually change this policy should they get into government is delusional.

They said they will, we know Labour definitely won’t. It’s enough for my vote.

When I read posts like this I can’t understand why you aren’t able to see that the only reason private school was VAT free for so many years was due to a loophole!

The loophole analogy is dangerous because there is still private health care and uni education to tax, for example. Who is to say eg the Green Party would not do that, for example?

Or care home fees for the rich pensioners. The poor pensioners paid for by the Council can get the VAT back. This is why some people were concerned about VAT on private education fees.

I don’t think the policy will be reversed. And yes a future government could decide to tax the things you mention @Araminta1003

When we left the EU, we were told that taxes would have to go up. People chose not to listen.

Private schools have always paid VAT since it was introduced. Children’s education has always been tax free, you are conflating the two. You can call not taxing children’s education a loophole if you think it helps your argument …in which case it’s a loophole shared by almost every country on the planet and protected by EU law.

I’m certain it will be reversed.
Im also certain the U.K. will rejoin the EU at some point meaning taxing children’s education is illegal ..and offering protection for the children in the unlikely event that Labour get anywhere near government again.

I also hope it would be reversed. I am no longer a labour party member and I will never be voting for them again.

Yes my parents too (I never supported Labour anyway)

Mostly on these threads it ends up most people agreeing Brexit was a disaster. The Labour Government used VAT on education as a symbolic punishment for Boris Johnson types?
However, it really is dangerous, because I have it on relatively good authority that so many of the public school elite are tilting Reform now and that is really bad news given ownership of social media and mainstream media.
So if anyone thinks life cannot get worse than under Labour, well it most definitely can get even worse.
This newest war shows how exposed we are as a single ineffective nation with illusions of grandeur amongst a world dominated by super powers.

Yep Labour broke the social contract with this one. There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.

I don't think its helpful to talk about the 'elite' in this conversation. So many of us are struggling by with an SEN child in a shabby, small, non famous school. They aren't going to be prime ministers or high court judges. But the educational setting they've accessed might just allow them to get some GCSEs and beyond and a chance at reaching adulthood without being entirely traumatised.

Does anybody think it’s possible to be philosophically and politically opposed to private schools? And to be able to use private schools but choose not to?