Most private schools are registered charities, which allows them various tax breaks

67% of Britons (including 61% of Tory voters) say that private schools should not continue to be allowed to register as charitieshttps://t.co/qm31nNB9cm pic.twitter.com/6odJSKK13k

— YouGov (@YouGov) July 11, 2023

One of Labour’s flagship policies for government is to strip private schools of their charitable status. I’m slightly supportive of this policy and I say that as somebody who benefitted from a private education I would recommend it to any parent but I do wonder if these tax breaks could be better spent elsewhere in education.

Recently it was announced ‘Almost 600 [state] schools in England are undergoing urgent structural checks. Many more unaware of danger of collapse posed by crumbling concrete’ and I can see why the voters would support Starmer’s policy even if there are unintended consequences with some analyses saying the policy will ‘cost taxpayers £300m – and force 40,000 pupils into the state system’.

If the Tories try and attack Starmer on this policy they will look even more out of touch, trying to reduce the costs for parents who send their children to private schools will not play well with the wider electorate.

TSE