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@louderry Love this got fact checked.

Reality. School was sold to a Hong Kong firm in 2017, awful ousted report, not enough pupils, losing money, so merging with another private school.

@WafflesInfo @MerrynSW Eeeekk. These schools are not private businesses. They are charities and are non-profit and do not have shareholders. This is basic stuff.

@MerrynSW It was a good idea. Private businesses should collapse of they can't afford to not pay tax. Why should the taxpayer who mostly can't even afford to use these private companies subsidise their existence?

VAT on private schools. Sounded good. New report says cost Scottish econ 900 jobs, £60m and counting. Pupil numbers down 9%. If this was social engineering it's working. If money raising, not so much.

@IanJon407 @BellaWallerstei Not my son’s school.

@BellaWallerstei upper middle class

Published a Substack on how Labour’s school tax lands squarely on middle-class families - those already making huge sacrifices to give their children the best education they can. Also features photo of baby Bella circa 2009 (spoiler I wasn’t the best behaved)

@DMacshane49850 @BellaWallerstei @JustinOnWeb It's been fact checked that the Labour policy is closing mainstream PS at a rate unseen before pro rata.

@BellaWallerstei 2010-24 under Cons 1021 private schools closed. Did you protest any of those? Parents sending kids to Stowe, a fine school, pay VAT on lots of things they’d rather not. @JustinOnWeb lathering a minister this morning over not increasing police numbers. But where do £££ come from?

@dumbers @vickygrayson_ @BellaWallerstei A targeted policy of tax onto charities is in fact the opposite of capitalism 💀

@vickygrayson_ @BellaWallerstei Capitalism doing the job 💪

“Every few decades, a government rediscovers the pleasures of class antagonism, identifies a socially acceptable minority to punish, and announces that envy is now public policy. This season’s chosen target is the family that pays school fees.” Excellent from @BellaWallerstei.

@HamblettMike @vickygrayson_ @BellaWallerstei FACT CHECKING THE HATE - Most Private schools are indeed charities. They have never done any tax avoidance. The High Court even said it wasn't a tax break. Ignore disinformation like this.

@vickygrayson_ @BellaWallerstei No, tax avoidance is a block to aspiration. These schools are not charities and this change is long overdue. @BellaWallerstei @vickygrayson_

@DAaronovitch @joenutt_author

@DAaronovitch @joenutt_author sUcH LuDiCroUs NoNsEnSe that the aim of taxing them was to close them down. @joenutt_author

Your reminder that in 2023 85 private schools closed

@alexhrbfc @DrNickA FACT CHECK - Most of the schools are charities being targeted by specific government policies to put them out of business. The opposite of capitalism.

@DrNickA Most commercial operations have to pay tax.

The idea that private schools are a detriment to society seems to be the prevailing thought. But this is not true. They offer an (expensive) out to parents who only have access to bad schools. A school is where your child spends most of their waking lives until they're and adult. The state school system is failing many pupils, that's a fact and it can create a damaging environment for young children to grow up in. Parents who prioritise education should have access to a competitive market of schools as a viable alternative. Now is it fair that some people can pay for it and others cannot? It depends. Some people have put decades into building a career that pays them well. Should they not be paid for their hard work? Some are born into it sure. Is that fair? Well what's the point of working if you can't build a better life for your children. Surely, most good parents are doing that? Should children be punished for their parents success? Additionally, private schools by way of having independent autonomy over their curriculum have the potential to innovate in ways that the state schools cannot. And, we are about to enter into a world where AI is going to completely restructure the economy and our relationship with knowledge. We actually need a pedagogical revolution. We should welcome private schools, have more of them at different price points and build deeper ties with the independent schools network for practice sharing and even resource sharing. Centralising the education system creates system fragility. A concept seemingly none of the policy makers, or their supporters seem to understand.

@Sosban_in_Exile FACT CHECK. My son's school which is a charity, has closed because of VAT. Forced to close as the government has made it unaffordable for many parents.

@joenutt_author No school is ‘forced’ to close. The businesses (about 50 every year in the past decade) which do so are making huge losses and are unsustainable. The end

Adults attempting to justify the forced closing of schools, will never not appall me. Do they even own a mirror?

@AdamJ10812 @Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA Leftists use the massive outlier of Finland but never use Sweden or Denmark which subsidise PS and give tax credits to parents. Very convenient.

@Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA What should we think about Finland? That they came top in reading once about a decade or so ago and have been in decline ever since? We outrank them in reading and maths. (Well in England. Labour run Wales is a disaster).

@Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA Let's be like France where they subsidise PS and give tax credits to parents.

@DrNickA I, too have studied, at first hand education systems in other countries. In my case, France and California. I will take my ‘ill-informed position’, probably the result of working for nearly half a century in ‘grim windowless spaces’, elsewhere and say goodbye.

@Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA 2. Finland is massive outlier. Places like Denmark with a better education systems heavily subsidise PS as they know a more attainable Private sector improves competition in the safe. Peer reviewed studies in Sweden show PS Improve the state. Sweden gives PS parents tax credits.

@DrNickA They create an education apartheid system based on wealth. Many of the pupils who attend private schools would have added to schools such as the ones where I was headteacher. More parents would have a vested interest in wanting to improve state education. Think about Finland.

@Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA Calling education Apartheid is deeply embarrassing and frankly insulting to people living in real aprtheid. Do we have an apartheid transport system as some people can only afford public transport? Do we have a apartheid housing sector?

@Sosban_in_Exile @DrNickA FACK CHECK - Every PS pupils means there is more funding in the state system. They benefit states schools. This is disinformation.

@DrNickA Personally I think that there were, and are, more important things to worry about than VAT on schools fees and I would have left things as they were. But, private schools exist to detriment of the state school system and why should a business be exempt from VAT?

@CmPooley1972 @implausibleblog It’s been a massive failure. Kids have been targeted and suffered. It’s disgusting.

@implausibleblog In only came into force just over a year ago. Do people think it’s collected and goes to a special pot? What a stupid question or more worryingly are people that thick.

Lady in yellow, "The Labour Party made it very clear that by taxing independent schools 20% VAT that you would put an additional 6,500 teachers into the teaching environment to help support SEND within schools" "Where's that gone?" Fiona Bruce, "Okay, I'm gonna. I suspect you. I'm just gonna get around a few more people"

Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester - Beatrix Potter stories read as a bedtime story. Sleep Cove Premium Become a Premium Member for Bonus Episodes & Ad-Free listening: Visit sleepcove.com/support and become a Premium Member. Get Instant Access and sign up in

For this week’s Wellness Wednesday, a short guided meditation to ease stress and anxiety through breathing and full-body relaxation. Give yourself a moment to slow things down. Get comfortable, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Inhale calm, exhale tension, while

@DAaronovitch Of course I care about people losing their jobs. My son is going blind. Small classes benefit him. His school is closing down because of VAT (Source the Trustees). He is devasted. And you have the gall to say that this is good because it's saving me school fees? Are you for real?

Do you care (beyond hoping that they find other positions) about the staff at Claire's losing their jobs? Candidly, I think the government may be saving some people completely unnecessary expenditure on private school fees. But my major point is that the impact on private schools is being hugely exaggerated.

@DAaronovitch 3. Picture this, David Aaronovitch is in Hamstead, telling people all over the country, many whose kids have SEND, that their schools closing or struggling, is fine. That he doesn't care about staff losing jobs. The entitled arrogance is staggering and needs to be studied.

@DAaronovitch 2. Us struggling Northerners have to take what is given to us. The southern Elitists with amazing schools and school kids from cohorts living in million pound family homes, tell us, "you're the REAL elites and your schools closing is good for society." 💀🤣