Sir Keir Starmer has said there is “no evidence” private schools will be forced to close due to Labour’s plans to impose VAT on them.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge in Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday, the Labour leader defended his party’s education policy to use the money to support state schools.
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“I think they will adapt,” he said. “They’ve had lots of increases in costs over the last 14 years and they’ve accommodated it.
“There’s no evidence to show these schools will close. They don’t have to pass the cost onto parents.”
Addressing parents’ concerns, he added: “It’s a difficult choice. But they’re businesses in the end and they’re very successful in the round.
“I want them to thrive. But we need to make this choice, because in the end, if I want the teachers we need in our state secondary schools, I have to answer the question you would put to me, just how are you going to pay for that?
“You’re going to pay for that by getting rid of the tax breaks for private schools, and use it to invest in the teachers we need in our state secondaries.”
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Sir Keir was also pressed on the recent backlash to the policy, which Ridge suggested may be related to “many people in Westminster and in the media who either went to private school or send their children there”.
“I think there’s an element of that,” he replied.
The Labour leader spoke to Sky News following the final TV debate between him and Rishi Sunak before voters go to the polls on 4 July.
A snap Sky News poll suggested the public viewed their performance at the event in Nottingham equally.
