‘Crocodile tears’ of personal faculties blasted by Wes Streeting in Labour tax row

Labour’s Wes Streeting says he doesn’t believe the “crocodile tears” of independent schools in a backlash over VAT and business rates.

The Shadow Health Secretary defended his party’s pledge to make parents who send their kids to fee-paying schools pay VAT. He said an exodus into state schools “is not going to happen” as a result.

Addressing a backlash from schools and parents, he said it’s “no good independent schools pleading poverty now”, adding: “I’m just not buying it.”

In a punchy interview with LBC, Mr Streeting defended the plans to charge VAT and business rates, which economists estimate will raise around £1.5billion a year. The Labour manifesto says some of this cash will be used to recruit 6,500 teachers in state schools.

It is estimated that parents could end up paying an extra £60,000 to fund their childrens’ education over their school career. Labour plans to end a tax break exempting them from 20% VAT fees.

Mr Streeting said schools have gone to “rack and ruin” under the Tories. He told host Calum Macdonald: “But Calum, what I just want to fundamentally reject is this idea that because VAT will be levied on private school fees, that we are going to see this exodus from independent schools to state schools. It is not going to happen .

“If it were the case that schools and indeed their customers were that price sensitive, we wouldn’t have seen them raising their own fees above inflation by more than a decade.

“It’s no good independent schools pleading poverty now. I’m just not buying it.”

And responding to a backlash from private schools and parents, he went on: “They have been perfectly fine for more than a decade. They didn’t blink when they were levying higher than inflation increases on parents at their schools. So forgive me for not believing the crocodile tears of independent schools now. “

The Labour manifesto also plans to use the income from VAT and business rates to provide 3,000 nurseries, mental health support for every school and new Young Futures hubs. The party claims these will be crucial in protecting youngsters most threatened by knife crime.

Earlier this week Keir Starmer said: “I have nothing against private schools, I absolutely recognise that many parents work hard and save hard to send their children to private schools because they have aspiration for their children.

“I equally accept that every parent has aspiration for their children whether they go to private school or not.” He added: “For those children in state secondary school who don’t have the teachers they need, that is not a one-year problem or a two-year budgeting problem it is lifelong problem because if they don’t get the qualifications they need at 15 and 16 they can’t go and do what they want.”

Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that the tax could cause a 3-7% reduction in private school attendance – about 17,000 to 40,000 children. However, the IFS report also says that pupil numbers across England are due to decline by at least 100,000 per year on average up to 2030, due to falling birth rates.