Labour lacks good ideas for improving Britain’s schools
Making private ones a bit more expensive is not an inspiring start
IN MID-DECEMBER Tim Jonas’s daughter said goodbye to friends and teachers at her private school in Wakefield, in Yorkshire. Mr Jonas, a web developer, says his family can no longer cover the nine-year-old’s fees, now that Britain’s Labour government is adding 20% in value-added tax (VAT). None of the 44 state primaries in Wakefield could guarantee her a place, so she is going to one a few miles out of town. Mr Jonas feels “fairly positive” about the move, now it is under way. But he regrets having to pull his daughter out of a school where she was happy and doing well.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Show your work”
From the January 4th 2025 edition
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