Sir Keir Starmer has striven to shake off his former support for the hard-Left Jeremy Corbyn. He may not have been the erstwhile Labour leader's chief spear carrier but he campaigned enthusiastically for him, and would cheerfully have served in his Cabinet.
These days Sir Keir has repackaged himself as a moderate, Blairite sort of chap who, unlike Corbyn, is on the side of hard-working folk who don't want to be taxed out of existence.
It is a version I'd like to accept. For if, as seems highly possible, Sir Keir is the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, wouldn't it be better for all of us if he turned out to be the reasonable, fair-minded politician he purports to be?
Unfortunately, though, the old Sir Keir has a habit of peeping through his painstakingly reworked image. This is evident in his attitude towards private schools. He remains determined to abolish their charitable status. Fees charged by these institutions would be subject to VAT, which at the moment stands at 20 per cent.
This means that fees at the most expensive private boarding schools would rise overnight from around £44,000 to £53,000 per annum. The cost of sending children to private day schools would increase by the same huge proportion.
