Parents say they will be forced to work longer hours and take on second jobs to afford Labour's VAT raid on private school fees.
It comes as tens of thousands pledged support for a campaign against Sir Keir Starmer's plan to charge 20 per cent VAT on fees.
They are calling on the party to consider the impact the policy will have on hardworking parents. Some have started looking for second jobs while others fear rising fees mean they will be forced into the state sector, it can be revealed.
It is spearheaded by Tony Perry, 46, a NHS data analyst, who launched the campaign alongside dozens of parents at LVS Ascot, an independent day and boarding school in Berkshire, yesterday.
He told the Mail he and his wife had lost sleep over the planned VAT hike, which he fears will make fees too expensive and force his son out of the private sector.
He said: 'We've both been up more than once and we have had more than one conversation. We are working flat out both of us in our jobs and doing whatever we can to try to make things work and just brace for the storm.
'We're already working flat out and it's taking away time from our kids and being able to just step back and that causes strain at home.
'When you're making such a fundamental policy you cannot do it without listening to the people affected and what I would also say, if Labour have been listening to business leaders and others… please do the same with parents.'
More than 61,000 people have signed the petition calling on Labour to scrap the policy.
The party has U-turned on plans to abolish the charitable status of private schools but insisted it would still add VAT to fees. The policy could hit families with charges from as early as next September, pushing some 90,000 youngsters into the state sector.
