Labour lines up attack on private schools

Under a Labour government, private schools could lose hundreds of millions of pounds in tax breaks unless they do more to help state schools.

Under a Labour government, private schools could lose hundreds of millions of pounds in tax breaks unless they do more to help state schools. Shadow education minister Tristram Hunt is threatening to axe business-rate relief worth around £700m over the next parliament unless they do much more than they currently do, in terms of sharing facilities, staff and expertise.

Writing in The Guardian, Hunt, who is privately educated, notes that although private schools educated only 7% of children, their students take up almost 50% of Oxbridge places. "The division between state and private education damages our society, stifles opportunity and, by wasting talent, inflicts damage upon our economy," he writes. England's public schools must rediscover their founding charitable ideals.

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