Labour says private school tax raid won't hit class sizes

Labour's plan to levy VAT on private school fees will not lead to larger class sizes in the state sector, Sir Keir Starmer has insisted.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The Labour leader slapped down his shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, who on Sunday said ending the charitable status of private schools could lead to bigger classes.

Asked if Ms Thornberry was wrong, Sir Keir said: “Yes.” He added: “We’ve had the analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies [IFS] on this, which says that there’ll be a negligible impact. So we’re very confident about that.”

"Bridget [Phillipson] has got it right and Emily didn’t get it quite right,” Sir Keir told LBC. “Bridget is obviously the shadow secretary of state on education, and Emily just got the lines a bit wrong there.”

Earlier in the day, Ms Phillipson said of Ms Thornberry: “I’m afraid that is not right.” The senior frontbencher added that she is happy to have a word with Ms Thornberry about the mix-up “because that is not the position”. The row erupted when Ms Thornberry was quizzed over Labour’s private school plan on Sunday, saying the tax hike could lead to bigger class sizes.