To think Andy Burnham is smug?

[Lyra25]

To think Andy Burnham is smug and presumptuous. Just that really and I have no particular political preference, disillusioned with the lot!

Agree.

You could run a headline saying only 19% of the public opposed it though. Which would illistrate that the vast majority of people either supported it or didn't care.
You could also run a headline saying that only 36% of Conservative voters opposed it.
So all in all, however you try to spin it, it was clearly a policy that was approved of by the majority with limited opposition from throughout the political spectrum.
Given that tax is typically very unpopular it makes sense to raise it in a way that most people don't oppose. So a sensible political decision, not one based in spite.

5.6%

And that is not adjusted for a 1.9% ifall in overall school headcount due to falling birth rates

So 3.7% at most

it was clearly a policy that was approved of by the majority

One of the answers was 'neither support nor oppose' - that doesn't mean they approve. The survey question was highly misleading - it's not at all clear that the majority would approve if they knew where the revenue was really being spent - not least if they got wind of government ministers lying/making misleading statements.

Given that tax is typically very unpopular it makes sense to raise it in a way that most people don't oppose. So a sensible political decision, not one based in spite.

That must be why Labour's polling results have been so wonderful these last two years (not).

The tweet I quoted from Bridget Phillipson had a contemptuous and spiteful tone, which assumed that all private schools are like Eton, whereas many private schools have no better facilities than state schools.

There’s been a 7.6% drop in mainstream independent school pupils compared with a 1.88% drop in state school pupils.

The Government forecast 37,000 pupils would leave over a period of 7 years. That forecast has been exceeded in 18 months.

The difficulty with modelling a policy like this is the government estimate was always very soft as other economic factors impact household incomes which impacts choices over schooling.

Politically speaking, voters will assess the policy more on how it feels to them (in terms of perceived 'fairness' or, for a minority, personal impact) than on actual vs predicted numbers.

Any drop in privately educated pupils is a huge positive. They are over represented in all the best jobs and unis. Less privately educated pupils means more opportunities for the other 94%.

A 'spiteful tone', is it? So nothing in her actual words that was incorrect. You just assumed a 'tone' from the words because the woman writing them grew up with disadvantage, so therefore must automatically be acting maliciously.
And if private schools were offering nothing better than state schools, and charging for it, then perhaps its a good thing if the tax puts them out of business, because they would be selling money for old rope and scamming people.
However, the stationary and pool were obviously not literal for every private school, but symbolic of the idea of paying private business for something better than that which is freely available. A commercial arrangement, of the type subject to VAT.

Her FB posts over the last two years have been horribly divisive, interesting to see they now have comments turned off so nothing more than a propaganda machine.

The policy was spiteful. It was introduced mid academic year and did not exempt those sitting exams as was asked for. Children were affected and ironically, not those from Eton. For the damage it has done, it could have been introduced in a way that considered children while meeting the ideological aims of the government.

17% of sixth formers are privately educated People who go into top jobs or attend top universities do tend to attend sixth form, whether that be state or private. So the 94% figure is the wrong starting point.

With regards to jobs, there is no point in looking at overall figures. Analysis needs to be concentrated at the junior level. Things have changed massively since I started working in the City 25 years ago (via a Northern comp and an ex Poly). Many large companies now operate blind recruitment with an applicant’s school and university not being disclosed during the recruitment process.

Ultimately, when it comes to top unis, they are going to take the top performing students. Selective schools have higher performing students. There are many more private selective schools than state. Even if you closed all the private schools, it would still be the same people going to top unis; the highest performers.

And many of the pupils who have left private school or attended private schools that closed, were not at top performing private schools and were never going to attend top unis. There is a private school near me that sends very few (sometimes none at all) pupils to Russell group unis. It’s a lovely school attended by many kids who have been let down by the state system. Their parents send them to that school for the calm and nurturing environment that is supportive of their SEND needs. This is the type of school that is closing down and the type of pupils who are leaving the private system.

A major criticism of the policy all along was that it would widen inequality by making the private school system more elite and would not improve the state system enough to compensate for this.

Currently, the state system is terrible for equality. Why do I not get a great school across the road from my house when someone 10 miles away does?

The idea that this policy would raise enough money to tackle that inequality was always patently ridiculous.

I don't know where you get your numbers from but none of it justifies the personal insults Badenoch aimed at Phillipson.

I am sure you learned about the Gestapo?

I don’t agree. I think when people act badly they should be called out on it.

The Speaker did call Badenoch out.

I’ve said this all along. If you close the private schools the exact same children will get the exact same results, and jobs etc. Schools make very little difference. In The grand scheme of things, Your family background in terms of wealth, family size and what your parents do is 100000% more important. Government will want to tax that next.

The latest figures are from the DfE’s education census for 25/26 which was published recently.

BP is one of the most divisive politicians in this country. She has spent the last two years trying to stoke up a class war. She is no better than Farage (who I can’t stand either).

Ha ha very funny.

I think Bridget is unpleasant stoking up a class war and I’m pleased this is finally being called out.

Ed Davey called Badenoch out as well.

Both him and Hoyle did that without using personal insults.

I like listening to the Times radio review. They were making the point that there was no point in Kemi going in hard on the key Starmer folk since they will be out the door in a few weeks anyway.

Lammy, Reeves, Phillipson et al - enjoy the backbenches. Even the Labour MPs agree they have fucked the country and need to bring in someone external to fix it.

If I was Kemi I would have just stood up and said I wouldn't be going to ask any questions to Starmer this week as he now a complete irrelevance.

Starmer is known for being rude and dismissive of women in the chamber . The idea that the House of Commons is a den of politeness is crazy.

PMQs is a bit of performative drama.

Personal insults towards other MPs are not part of that

No, actually.
He's a carpetbagger who has abandoned the people in Greater Manchester who voted for him, contributed to another MP abandoning his own constituents, and took a triumphalist selfie on the same day as the current PM announced his resignation.
He also has very little track record of doing tough jobs, making tough decisions and being the one who's in the firing line when things go wrong.
He has no integrity and too much ego and ambition.
I can find very little respect for him.

I have just posted this on another thread it is relevant here, as well.

Ed Davey completely owned the Commons. He said that amidst their robustness in the House they should still all remember they are human. He then just paused, and paused, and looked. And everyone knew it was Badenoch that was off ...

From 17.30
Prime Minister's Questions - 24/06/2026 - BBC iPlayer

That’s such an odd way of looking at it.
There is a tremendous disparity between state schools as well, middle class children live in the same area, the school reflects that, they have access to the money their parents can invest in their future, knowledge of the education system etc.