WalkTall

Bloke

[Steve Lawrence @SteveLawrence_]

In the time between now and the revamping of the @UKLabour Cabinet and administration by the end of the summer recess, @bphillipsonMP & @RachelReevesMP will have destroyed a further 18 English independent schools @AndyBurnhamGM

Rescind the toxic education tax burden, ASAP, the dominoes are falling, the destruction is irreversible, children are harmed, the tax is shrinking.

[Laura Trott MP @LauraTrottMP]

This is hardly surprising. Phillipson broke her promises & let down teachers and pupils. Labour pledged that taxing education would deliver 6,500 more teachers, but there are now 1,900 fewer. Schools have been left to absorb Reeves’ Jobs Tax, forcing them to axe teaching jobs.

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

@RogersHistory Taxing education.

For us, that's enough.

There are countless ways for governments to raise revenue.

Choosing to place additional taxes on the education of children was a political choice.

It was the wrong choice.

#EducationNotTax

[Richard Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 @rtsrichard]

What a load of bollocks.

These are often folk who can't get a decent education from the State and in desperation cobble together just enough money, often going into debt, to ensure their kids get a decent education their taxes aren't providing.

It should be illegal to put vat on any form of education and training. It's bloody immoral and one of the few things I agree with the EU on, where VAT is not allowed to be applied.

[Caroline Dinenage MP @cj_dinenage]

VAT on school fees was one of the most vindictive tax rises of this Government. 105 independent schools have closed & 33,000 pupils have left.

For talented children at Music & Dance Schools, it's the difference between realising their potential & being barred from opportunity.

[Steve Lawrence @SteveLawrence_]

I genuinely believe @CommonsEd is being misled here.

The VAT burden introduced inside a budgeted year has been causal in a reduction in actual independent school rolls resulting in an in year reassessment of financial ‘going concern’ parameters. That governance process has resulted in the closing of an independent school every four days since the new taxes were introduced.

The @Ofstednews public database indicates that the only new private schools inspected for opening during the same period have been very small (10-50 children) specialist SEND facilities to meet local education authority demand, in effect, they are state schools.

The Minister must be called back by the Committee to address this matter and present the actual ratio of independent school closure:opening (not including local authority SEND outsourcing) which can then be compared to historic data and then presented annually to the Committee to gauge the ongoing effect of the new taxation policy.

The Minister should also be required to provide statistics on the transferring burden of SEND children from independent schools to state schools consequent upon the tax policy migration.

[Victoria @vickygrayson_]

Thank you @Rebecca_SPaul for holding @bphillipsonMP to account.

We have >44k fewer children in the private sector after one year of VAT, having quickly exceeded Labour’s prediction of 37,000 fewer by 2030.

122 private schools have closed with no new mainstream schools opening.

[Joe Nutt @joenutt_author]

In a just nation, any Education Minister whose policy had led directly to over 40,000 children having to leave their schools in a matter of months would be in court - not lying to a room full of adults, who all know she is lying.

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

@bphillipsonMP is talking nonsense. "More private schools are opening than closing," she says.
She knows full well that the new openings are independent special schools, created to meet local authority demand for SEND provision. They are VAT-exempt and funded by councils.

The schools closing that @Rebecca_SPaul is talking about are mainstream independent schools.

Lumping independent special schools together with mainstream schools to claim "more schools are opening than closing" is simply a lie. She should apologise to the @CommonsEd and correct the record.

It's not difficult, perhaps a picture will help you understand the sector you're responsible for!
#EducationNotTax

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

During an appalling performance at the Education Select Committee today, @bphillipsonMP claimed that private schools are closing because of "falling birth rates".

#FACTCHECK
Between January 2024 and January 2026:

🔻 Mainstream independent school pupil numbers fell by 7.62%
🔻 Total school pupil numbers in England fell by 1.89%
If demographics were the full explanation, those figures would be broadly similar.

Instead, the decline in mainstream independent schools is more than four times greater.

Yet the Secretary of State continues to ignore the impact of 20% VAT on school fees, the removal of business rates relief and rising costs across the sector.

Policy has consequences.

The Government should stop dismissing the evidence, start listening, and #ScrapVAT before more damage is done.

#EducationNotTax
@CommonsEd @Rebecca_SPaul

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

Quite incredible that @bphillipsonMP could not bring herself to express a single word of sympathy for the children, families and staff affected by school closures.

Instead, it's always someone else's fault. The school. The management. Birth rates. Anything except Government policy.

The reality is that many independent schools are small organisations operating on tight margins. They do not exist in a vacuum. Like every other organisation, they face rising costs, demographic pressures and economic uncertainty.

A sensible government would recognise those pressures and avoid making them worse.

Instead, this Government added 20% VAT on fees, removed business rates relief and increased costs further.

When a sector is already under pressure, you don't pile more weight onto it and then act surprised when schools fail.

Policy matters. Decisions have consequences. Children are losing schools they know and love.

The Government should stop denying the impact of its policies, scrap VAT on school fees, and prevent further damage before more schools are lost.
#EducationNotTax
@Rebecca_SPaul @educationgovuk @CommonsEd

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions in education is that every parent is looking for the same thing from a school.

They're not.

Some prioritise academic outcomes. Others faith, pastoral care, sport, music, boarding, specialist provision or simply the environment in which their child will flourish.

Different families make different choices because every child is different.

And that's precisely why we need different schools offering different things.

Educational choice matters.

[Chris @IrritableChris]

Here we have @AndrewHWestern displaying his complete naivety, prejudice and arrogance toward parents of private school pupils.

Apparently the only reason we choose to pay is to buy an advantage, a leg up over others. For connections and contacts.

The ignorance is astounding. Ill wager he has never spoken to those who use a private school, not visited one and had a chat with the parents to find out why.

Well Andrew, let me enlighten you. Here are two sets of results, one from my local state school placement offering, the other from an area in london. The sort you Education Secretary gets to access for "free". Note the entire local education authority average score compared to that of England too..

You make no mention of SEND, no mention of the vast inequality within the state system, just vilifying of those choosing to work hard and use their own money (saving the state 8k per child) just to stand a chance of obtaining the level of education that our Education Secretary and millions of others get for "free".

And for simply trying to do our best for our children? For having the audacity to try and give them the same as others in the country get? You just post this sort of ignorant bile and accuse us of stepping on others.

Shame on you.

You've been part of a government that has seen tens of thousands of children ripped from friendship groups, had their education damaged, seen teachers and other staff made redundant, all because of the misguided prejudice and spite.

Yet your real target, the stereotypical view you have of pupils in Bentleys and Rolls Royce with polo on the timetable. They couldn't give a toss. The VAT bill won't even touch the sides, they are now part of an even more elite system.

Meanwhile the plumber and nurse working all hours to send their daughter to a school where she stands a chance of getting what the children of @bphillipsonMP get, well they are the ones being hurt.

Your ignorance and prejudice on this matter is simply shameful.

[John Bell @PlasFron]

THIS is a straightforward lie.

Those who send their children to a private school pay twice, first for the private school, and then for state schools through their taxes, while making no demand on the state system.

[Deb @Elephantastick]

@AndrewHWestern At least have some consistency and call out your leader who bought his children a privileged education. The stamp duty on his house will have been £160k.
Utter hypocrisy. But we now expect nothing less from the tax everyone else but yourselves class.

[Victoria @vickygrayson_]

@AndrewHWestern Your parents “bought” you a head start when they sent you to Altrincham Grammar School for boys. A 114% premium on your house and no doubt they lined up a tutor to seal the deal. 5% children on FSM. Closest comp has ~20% kids on FSM.

Why did your parents waste that money?

[MrsA @abritishparent]

Heaven forbid parents work hard, support their children and invest time or money into their education. No, that’s the job of the state! Classic Marxist mindset: dismantle the family unit and make everyone entirely dependent on the state.
@ClaireCoutinho @LauraTrottMP @jrkdenison

[Marcus Walker @WalkerMarcus]

Ironically the opposite is true. Parents who send their children to private schools are subsidising everyone else’s children’s education while also paying for their own.

(Also, not taxing =\= subsidising.)

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

>Lola McVey MP thinks that not taxing something = subsidising it
>Lola is an elected lawmaker
>Lola doesn’t understand basic tax law

We are being governed by idiots.
Actual, genuine, certifiable idiots.

[ENT - Education Not Taxation @EducationNotTax]

A 6.6% fall in Year 12 pupils in private schools

These children were born 16–17 years ago, so this cannot be explained away by repeatedly shouting "falling birth rates".

So what else happened that might have caused such a sharp drop, @RachelReevesMP and @bphillipsonMP?

We'll give you a clue...

It starts with V.
It ends with T.
It adds 20% to the cost of educating a child.
You caused this.
Now fix it.
#EducationNotTaxation #ScrapTheVAT