General Election 2024

The provision is in place, state school population is falling following a baby boom and is expected to have to close a lot of places in the coming years due to over supply

Reform have sacked their candidate in Kemis constituency.
Apparently due to previous comments saying people should vote for the bnp but I smell a rat.
Big Fash doesn’t want Kemi losing her job :/

Sorry for the daily heil link

Surely if Reform get rid of candidates who have previously been a bit BNP/Britain First they will be seriously depleted?

I assumed it was a prerequisite for joining.

It helps but not as much as being able to pay money to Farage’s private company….

I read a post about (some) parents choosing to pay private school fees up front - 1) specifically now, because they can avoid the VAT if they do and 2) in general, because schools have always apparently offered discounts if you do that. Only mentioning because it was a surprise (I’m always surprised by how deeply, fundamentally, inter-generationally, wealthy some people are) and it feels wrong.

Are we getting into inheritance tax next?

pay private school fees up front

People with spare LTV on their mortgage could quite easily do that, and that would apply to the vast majority of people who have their children in private school.

For example, if I had a £24k bill to pay over a year and I could only afford to pay it at £2k/mo out of my income but was offered a £4k discount if I paid it in advance then an extra £20k on my mortgage would cost me a chunk less than £24k to get rid of by the end of the year (even with extra interest payments and early repayment charges factored in).

The people I know grumbling most about the VAT hike are the people who are paying for private schooling because their children weren't thriving well in the underfunded state schools because of limited SEND provision in the state sector. These are children without official EHCPs (which come with funding) but most have some level of ADHD/autism diagnoses.

Yes the long-term answer is that the state schools should be better funded, and have better SEND provision, but that's not going to happen overnight and so many of these parents (who are lucky enough to be able to afford it now, possibly not so with a 20% hike in prices) will continue to do what they can to try and send their kids private because the state alternative is a huge step back for them.

(Don't get me wrong, I completely support the general principle of removing VAT exemption for private schools but I disagree with a cliff-edge implementation and think it should be done in a more gradual way to have less of an immediate effect. The actual tax revenues at stake are a fraction of a percentage point of the general taxation income, so that can't be an argument, and solving the state school budgets is going to take a lot more than removing this tax break with generate. I'm also lucky that I live in an area of the country that means my daughter can get excellent state school education and isn't struggling due to other issues.)

Excellent post

The school we were looking at sent an email saying that they would offer a discount for fees paid upfront. So I assume all schools will have done something similar.

It was a negligible amount. I want to say 1% but can't find the email. But to me that sound like a commercial rational for anti-avoidance. There was also disclaimer basically saying that if the Govt said VAT had to be paid on upfront fees you'd have to pay it.

It would be funny if they all had to register these as DOTAS.

Purely anecdotal but when I was in school the rumour was the only kids that paid all at once we're ones who's money came from potentially dodgy sources, like the Russian kid who appeared half way through an exam year.

Dan Niedham article on the problem with advance fee payments.

Tl;dr: may not actually work to avoid paying VAT, and may cause real headaches for schools .

Apologies if the point has already been made, but private schools’ fees have increased by 50% in real terms since 2010.

Perhaps these private companies could cut their cloth accordingly, absorb the VAT rise and see how making a bit less profit goes?

Perhaps these private companies could cut their cloth accordingly, absorb the VAT rise and see how making a bit less profit goes?

Christ, are you morons still going on about private schools?

To be fair, this is the dullest election in my memory.

Could this just be moved to the golf club thread ?

Interesting to see French football players weighing in on the elections. Not sure you will see England or Scotland doing the same.

They get half the media telling them to STFU, stick to kicking a ball etc. if they try. See Marcus Rashford when he had the temerity to say kids should have school dinners

To be fair, this is the dullest election in my memory.

Isn't that exactly what you wanted?

I agree, just interesting to see arguably the best player of his generation intimating he won't want to put on the blue shirt again if the far right are running France.

That said, the comments in the right wing press are no different in terms of tone to those of the daily mail article if Rashford had said the same. 65% of people in a poll run by the Figaro said he should have kept it zipped...

“We [the France team] are citizens, we cannot be disconnected from the world around us. We know that we are in an important situation for our country, an unprecedented situation. I want to address the French people. The extremes are at the gates of power, we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country.

“I call on all young people to go and vote, to understand the gravity of the situation. I hope that my voice resonates as far as possible. … I hope we will still be proud to wear this jersey on July 7.”

Moving stuff.

Latest tactical vote update is out: https://www.getvoting.org

Thanks for that, there is hope for this little corner of Nazi Germany, Bexhill and Battle. Although Con had a 26k majority, Hitler Pensioner (aka Reform) have split their vote and neither is likely to step down. Lab leads narrowly!

Tactical voting is interesting in North Herefordshire, one of the Green Party’s four target seats.

The long term Tory incumbent has a majority just short of 25k (48.7% vote share) from the 2019 election (and traditionally a whopping majority).

However thinks seem to be surging pretty fast to Green with it looking like Reform is taking Tory votes. From a completely invalid survey, travelling around North Herefordshire, where there are signs outside houses they are predominantly Green with a small number of Labour but I’ve seen no Conservative or Reform (classic shy voters?). We’ve also had regular mail shots from the Greens but nothing from Labour (I’d have to look up who the candidate is) or Tory.

Dare I hope….

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