Allow a play date where mum unapologetically supports children’s education tax

[GigglyOrange]

Just this really, our local independent prep school closed due to the education tax earlier this year and has caused absolute chaos for lots of families, including my own. My dd (6) has been invited for a play date with a girl she seems very friendly with and who seems very sweet, but I’ve since found out from another parent that the mum is an ‘unapologetic education taxer’. My instinct is to cancel the play date, AIBU?

The school didn’t have enough children because the government put the fees up by a fifth half way through the year.

Boo hoo? The schools should do something to keep their customers then, shouldn’t then?
Two local state primaries near us have closed and the pupils gone to other schools because there wasn’t enough kids to make them viable.
Sometimes small schools do close.

The government removed an unnecessary tax break given to a business. Fixed it for you.

I don’t want someone who doesn’t give a shit about by children looking after them, I think that’s reasonable. I’m not telling her that this woman wanted her school closing down, it would upset her and she’s only really been around decent people growing up so far so won’t really understand the mentality.

I hope your daughter's school is worth the money and is able to teach her that this is the kind of disagreement that most adults are able to rise above.

😆

And it would also be a load of horseshit too!

What can they do? cut back on burseries and scholarships, start making other schools pay to use their facilities rather than free. They did all that.

Yes sometimes schools close but this is a Government deliberately closing them because some people are envious of a 5 year old in boater

I agree, but from what I hear she’s actually proud of it.

You've either jumped the shark here with this batshit thread or you're completely unhinged.

School rolls are dropping though. State and indy. Not all schools will survive.

My local state primary is closing at the end of this year and the remaining students are moving to another school.

So use that one then! No reason you should be exempt from a tax on a luxury good/service because you don’t want to use the one that is provided free of the point of delivery. And in any event is it the parent paying tax, not the child, so your point about a child being entitled to a tax free education doesn’t stand- they can have one, but their parent has decided to opt out so has to bear the consequences.

To my mind trying to avoid tax is more ‘immoral’ than being a person who thinks others shouldn’t be allowed to do so.

If you think the state education isn’t good enough (though noting plenty of us do perfectly fine on it) then spend your time campaigning to improve it, rather than whinging about paying tax on eligible purchases.

Do you have a point? Or is this just some needless personal attack.

Realistically most people who state educate their kids are not going to agree with you/ will give no shits about this issue that doesn’t affect them so your DDs play date options might be limited if this is your criteria.

In fact it’s not going to come up on a bloody play date is it so it’s just a non issue. People who have different political views to you can still can still manage to look after your DC at a play date. My DC might have been card for for a few hours by climate change deniers and even Reform voters. As long as their views are not actual hate speech I don’t care about a primary school mums politics. If she hated you and ‘didn’t give a shit’ then she wouldn’t have invited her presumably.

It was in Special Measures at the time and the teachers could have been better which is why it’s so important that good teachers are not all poached by private schools. It dragged itself out for a bit but is back in Special Measures now unfortunately.

So what? They're children. You don't need to talk to her about what taxes you do or do not approve of.

I'd say people struggling to afford their rent and to feed their kids are considerably more 'devastated' than those facing the closure of a private school. But I would never say that to my kids mates mum who was in your position.

If someone has those beliefs it doesn't mean they wish your children harm. Or would be rude to you. Maybe they just believe that every child deserves a decent education?

Did they want the school to close down or did they want to remove a tax anomaly that is unfair?

The unfortunate spinoff is that some schools have had to close, and I think this could have been mitigated by phasing the exemption out to help avoid this for the sake of the pupils.

I am disappointed that they did not do this, but agree with the principle behind it.

Before 2024 school fees increased at a rate of 3-6% a year.

Private schools can can now reclaim more VAT, so the estimated impact is that fees should go up by 15%. However, many schools have borne some of the impact, so if your school is charging you 20% extra they are pulling a fast one or at least part of the increase has nothing to do with the government.

It is estimated that 100 schools have closed since the change in the law was introduced in 2024, but it is also normal for 70-80 schools to close each year.

It is likely that the mother of your child's friend doesn't hate children, but just has a different view on educational policy.

Did your DDs school wear boaters?

OP, we get that you are angry. But the mother of the play date invite had nothing to do with government policy.

Yes she supports it for ideological reasons most probably, not because she is jealous of the kind of hat your DD wears or because she wants to deprive your DD of an education.

Her views are not about you personally. Can you not have strong feelings about this but not direct your ire at her. She has done nothing wrong.

This is my favourite troll thread ever.

I’m going to play the ‘every time the op says education tax’ and ‘every time the OP says something to deliberately wind people up’ drinking game ☺️

🥂

Was that aimed at me? DD is finishing sixth form this year, she's been state educated throughout!

This is also true. Demographic change affects all schools.

I agree re the tax on education. Even economists acknowledge it doesn’t raise the promised £, it’s just politics.

However you are catastrophising.
People can hold different views, which we find absurd, but still be good people.
My in-laws are lovely, even though they were taken in by the Far-Rage con and voted for Brexit. Do I blame them for the damage he and others have done and continue to do to this country? Maybe a little to be honest. But I still like the other bits of them and try to understand why they choose to believe this tosh, and hope they stay open to hearing my pov too.

I’d suggest taking a slow breath, putting big girl pants on and trying to learn a bit more about this mum apart from her views on education.

And from the inquest :

"Giving her conclusion, Mrs Rawden said: "He was worried about implications of new regulations around inheritance tax that would see the family lose 50% of the farm, taking his life the day before the changes were due to be announced.""

If blame is anywhere, it is with fearmongering right wing media and their misinformation spreading.

Rather like describing VAT on a business as " taxing children's education".

In fact, you posted a guv announcement on the vat changes, and I quoted directly from it. Not only did you ignore the direct quote, but you keep misrepresenting what the guv announcement said.

OP, in the hopes of settling this deranged thread: don’t have that child over for a play date. There, problem solved