That said, I’m disappointed by the lack of thinking and research that has gone into this week’s policy announcement that a Labour government will put VAT on fees paid to private schools. Disappointed, but not very surprised; this policy has been in the wind for a long time and it’s an easy way for the Labour leader to score some Brownie points with both the soft and the far-left of the party, the latter apparently feeling fairly alienated right now.
Of course, independent schools have never been an easier target; the image that the words ‘private school’ – or, indeed, ironically, ‘public school’ – brings to mind in the average British punter these days is, not unreasonably, an image of Boris or David Cameron or George Osborne or – even worse – Jacob Rees-Mogg. Actually, the very vast majority of people who attended private schools – or who currently attend them – are nothing like these men; many private school former pupils would be appalled if they thought they were being lumped in with the likes of them.
