It’s been a tough old time for private schools. Amid endless self-aggrandising, Keir Starmer’s ministers took great pleasure in whacking VAT on school fees, prompting the inevitable closure of some of Britain’s finest institutions. But now it seems that one of Andy Burnham’s new cabinet is doing her bit to help out. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, has enjoyed a series of glowing profiles amid chatter that she could be Labour’s long-awaited first female leader. Yet Fahnbulleh has a problem: she sends her own kids to private schools. Cue horror from some on the Labour left…
Appearing on the News Agents, Fahnbulleh was asked if her decision to pay for her children’s education would be a problem for her political ambitions. Defending the move to impose VAT, she said it was the ‘right policy’, called the backlash ‘bizarre’ and insisted that ‘the government is not going to cross subsidise parents’. Might want to look up the difference between a subsidy and a tax there minister. But it was Fahnbulleh’s passionate defence of parental choice which really tugged at Steerpike’s heartstrings:
I’ve purposefully not brought my kids into politics. If the question you’re asking me is do I believe that parents should have a choice to send their kids to independent school? I do. Parents can do that for a whole host of reasons. Because it’s a good school, because their kids have special educational needs, because they want schools that are geared towards sports and arts. That is OK. I don’t think that precludes me or anyone else who holds that belief from being part of the Labour team or the Labour family.
Truly, heartwarming stuff. Just a shame then that she has made it so much more difficult for other parents who aren’t married to wealthy hedge fund owners…
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