Sir Keir Starmer said there is “no evidence” that private schools will be forced to close due to Labor’s plans to impose VAT on them.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge in Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday, the Labor leader defended his party’s education policy of using the money to support state schools.
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“I think they will adapt,” he said. “They’ve had a lot of cost increases over the last 14 years and they’ve accommodated that.
“There is no evidence to show that these schools will close. They don’t need to pass the costs on to their parents.”
Responding to parents’ concerns, he added: “It’s a difficult choice. But at the end of the day, they are companies and they are very successful overall.
“I want them to thrive. But we need to make that choice, because in the end, if I want the teachers we need in our state high schools, I have to answer the question you would ask me: How are you going to pay for it?”
“You will pay for this by getting rid of tax incentives for private schools and using them to invest in the teachers we need in our state secondary schools.”
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Sir Keir was also pressed on the recent backlash to the policy, which Ridge suggested could be linked to “many people in Westminster and in the media who have attended private schools or sent their children there”.
“I think there is an element of that,” he replied.
The Labor leader spoke to Sky News following the final TV debate between him and Rishi Sunak before voters go to the polls on July 4.
A Sky News snap poll suggested the public viewed his performance equally at the event in Nottingham.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
