Sir Keir Starmer said he will not apologise for his plans to impose VAT on private schools, after he was challenged on the proposal during his first Prime Minister’s Questions.
As he defended the policy, the Prime Minister argued that every parent has aspirations for their children no matter which school they go to.
It came in response to Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, who claimed state schools in her constituency of Edinburgh West would be put under pressure by the proposal.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Jardine said: “I’m sure he will want to reassure the many parents and teachers in Edinburgh West who have expressed concerns about the implication for our state education system in Scotland of the VAT increase in independent fees, which he proposes.
“Edinburgh City Council, led by the Labour Party, have produced five-year projections which show we do not have capacity in the city to accommodate pupils who may leave the independent sector.
“Moreover, how will he ensure that the VAT raised in Scotland from those fees can be reinvested in already hard-pressed Scottish education?”
Sir Keir replied: “I do obviously understand the aspiration that parents who work hard and save hard have for their children that they send to private school.
“But every parent has that aspiration, whichever school they go to.
“And I am determined that we will have the right teachers in place in our state secondary schools to ensure that every child, wherever they come from, whatever their background, has the same opportunity, and I do not apologise for that.”
Shadow education secretary Damian Hinds said he recognised that the proposal was in Labour’s manifesto, but added that “it is still wrong-headed”.
During an education debate on Wednesday, the Tory former minister said: “It won’t hit the famous big-name schools, it will hit small-town schools. It will hit families of children with special educational needs. It will hit certain religious faiths.
“And most of all, in the biggest way, it will hit state schools.
“Now we don’t know how big the displacement effect will be, families who can no longer afford to send their children to that independent school, we don’t know and we can’t know because there is no precedence to look at.
“But we do know it is going to be a material number.”
It came after Conservative MP Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) also claimed during the King’s Speech debate on Tuesday that the “awful policy” would put pressure on state education.
Mr Spencer, who has chosen to send his children to private school, said: “Most parents who send their kids to independent schools aren’t these sort of mega-rich magnates which are characterised by the Government, they’re people – as with all parents – who make difficult budgeting decisions in terms of how they want to spend their money.
“The policy to tax education, which we have never done before and never should, is only going to put more pressure on the state sector.”
