The following letter was published in The Times on 22 June, continuing Alistair Lexden’s attacks on Labour’s iniquitous propsals for an education tax.
Sir, Labour says that its VAT levy on independent schools will be included in its first finance bill (report, Jun 21). Rachel Reeves claims to set great store by the verdict of the Office for Budget Responsibility on her plans and says she will not implement a budget until it has considered them. But what if the OBR finds that instead of raising new resources for the recruitment of extra teachers, the education tax will add to the state sector’s overall costs by driving large numbers of independent school pupils into it? A fiscally responsible government would at that point abandon the tax. If it persisted, it would show that the policy was driven by sheer prejudice against independent schools.Labour must make its position on this clear.
Lord Lexden
President, Independent Schools Association
