Despite having done no serious calculations, Labour claim that their VAT levy on independent school fees would raise £1.6 billion for state schools.
Experts on school finance do not agree. If large numbers of pupils were forced out of independent schools and into the state sector, there would be no extra funds for state schools. On the contrary, their costs would increase.
Alistair Lexden has challenged Labour to seek a ruling from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), one of whose duties is to assess the viability of new tax proposals.
In an interview published in The Sunday Telegraph on 2 June, he said: “the central question is – would Labour abandon or not abandon this policy if the OBR said to them that it will cost more than it will bring in? Is this crude party politics, or is it a serious effort to raise money for the state sector?
“That is where the OBR judgment is so central and that is why Labour should not be able to evade it.”
Labour was asked for their response. They “declined to commit to abandoning the policy if the OBR forecast went against them.”
So the truth is out. Labour’s principal aim is to harm independent schools, not to increase investment in the state sector. Their hypocrisy has been exposed.
