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Several private schools, as well as some pupils and their parents, have launched a legal challenge over the government imposing VAT on private schools.

The claimants, which include children and families at faith schools and families who have sent their children with special educational needs (SEN) to private school, are taking the legal action against the Treasury.

They claim the policy of applying VAT to fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law.

Teachers, parents and pupils protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London over the private school fees VAT policy. Nearly 20 families and several faith schools are bringing legal action against the Treasury, claiming the new VAT on fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law. Picture date: Tuesday April 1, 2025.
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Pic: PA

The Treasury is defending the challenges, with HMRC and the Department for Education (DfE) also taking part.

Dozens of supporters of the challenge appeared at the High Court in London for the first day of the hearing on Tuesday.

Lord David Pannick KC, representing one group of children and their parents, said that for some children currently in private schools, their needs are not met by state schools in their area, or at all, but the new law applies “irrespective” of a family’s need.

“The application of the law does have a damaging effect on individual children and their families,” he added.

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As well as religious beliefs and SEN, the High Court was told some children are privately educated because of a need for a single-sex environment because of previous abuse, or because they are only temporarily in the UK and need to be educated in line with their home national curriculum.

Teachers, parents and pupils protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London over the private school fees VAT policy. Nearly 20 families and several faith schools are bringing legal action against the Treasury, claiming the new VAT on fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law. Picture date: Tuesday April 1, 2025.
Image:
Pic: PA

Teachers, parents and pupils protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London over the private school fees VAT policy. Nearly 20 families and several faith schools are bringing legal action against the Treasury, claiming the new VAT on fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law. Picture date: Tuesday April 1, 2025.
Image:
Pic: PA

Jeremy Hyam KC, representing two children with SEN in private schools, told the court that at least 35,000 children could be displaced from private schools and into state institutions because of increased costs.

He continued in written submissions: “That displacement will have a particularly prejudicial impact for displaced SEN children compared with those entering the state sector who do not have SEN.”

He said that provision for SEN pupils in the state system “is in crisis” and that the transition “is likely to have a highly detrimental effect” on pupils who have to move schools.

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Bruno Quintavalle, representing four small Christian schools and parents who have sent their children to them, said the “ill thought-out proposal introduced in haste” placed parents in “impossible positions”.

He said in written submissions: “The small independent schools that are likely to suffer most from this are those that serve minority religious communities.”

He continued: “The claimant parents are not prepared to send their children to state schools, because the secular education provided by the state sector would oblige the children to be educated in a way contrary to the parents’ religious convictions or would otherwise expose their children to risks which they cannot in conscience assume.”

But Sir James Eadie KC, representing the Treasury, HMRC and the DfE, said abolishing the VAT exemption for private school fees was a prominent feature of Labour’s manifesto at the last general election and is expected to yield between £1.5bn and £1.7bn per year.

He continued in written submissions: “Parents wishing to opt out of the system of universally accessible state-funded education are free to choose any private education for their child that they can afford, or to educate their child at home.

“The fact that measures of general application, such as taxes, minimum wage laws, national insurance, etc, affect the cost of providing such a service, and therefore its purchase price, does not make those measures an interference with freedom to offer or receive private education.”

The hearing before Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain is due to conclude on Thursday.

A decision is expected in writing at a later date.

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Trump says Musk ‘off the rails’ for forming political party to rival GOP

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Trump says Musk ‘off the rails’ for forming political party to rival GOP

Trump says Musk ‘off the rails’ for forming political party to rival GOP

US President Donald Trump has blasted Elon Musk’s plan to start a new political party that could splinter the Republican vote in the 2026 midterm elections.

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MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

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MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

An MP who decided until recently to “never speak” about the abuse he suffered as a child has shared his harrowing story so that “no kid has to go through” what he did.

Josh Babarinde describes being physically abused by his mother’s former partner from the age of four, and remembers crying himself to sleep under the covers “hearing shouts, hearing screams and things smash”.

He says he became hypervigilant growing up and felt safe at school but “like he was treading on eggshells” in his own home.

The Eastbourne MP, who is also the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, says his experience has driven his politics. He is calling on the government to stop abusers “slipping through the net” and being released from prison early.

Opening up about his story in his twenties was “difficult” but looking back, Mr Babarinde says, he is “so proud of the resilience of that kid”.

The MP recently found his childhood diary containing Star Wars drawings alongside an entry he wrote from the bathroom. The diary, he recalls, wrote: “I’m really going to try to go (to the toilet) but I can’t. Oh my goodness, I’m gonna be in so much trouble, I’m going to get smacked so hard.”

Then an entry five minutes later: “I still haven’t done anything, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

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He says reading the entry reminded him of how “helpless” he felt.

“It was mortifying,” he says. “An abuser takes away your sense of self-worth.”

Josh Babarinde speaking to Sky's Ali Fortescue.
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Mr Babarinde says he wants the government to ‘properly recognise domestic abuse crimes in the law’

The 32-year-old is calling on the government to change the law to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence. The change would mean, he argues, abusers can no longer effectively disguise their history under other offences like assault.

He says the Ministry of Justice’s early release scheme, which has seen thousands of prisoners released early to ease overcrowding, has failed to exclude domestic abusers despite government promises because there is no formal categorisation for offenders.

It is impossible, he argues, to know exactly how many domestic abusers are in prison currently so perpetrators are “slipping through the net” on early release.

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Mr Babarinde says the uncertainty means victims and survivors are not able to prepare for their abuser’s release.

He said: “They might need to move house or move their kids to a new school, shop in different places. All of these kind of things are so important, and so that’s why that commitment the government made was so important.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “Our thoughts are with all victims of domestic abuse – it takes immense courage to speak out.

“We are building a justice system that puts victims first – strengthening support, increasing transparency, and giving people the confidence to come forward and be heard.”

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Another tantrum from the Labour backbenches is inevitable

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

In common with many parents across the country, here’s a conversation that I have with my young daughter on a semi-regular basis (bear with me, this will take on some political relevance eventually).

Me: “So it’s 15 minutes until your bedtime, you can either have a little bit of TV or do a jigsaw, not both.”

Daughter: “Ummmm, I want to watch TV.”

Me: “That’s fine, but it’s bed after that, you can’t do a jigsaw as well.”

Fast-forward 15 minutes.

Me: “Right, TV off now please, bedtime.”

(Pause)

Daughter: “I want to do a jigsaw.”

Now replace me with the government, the TV and jigsaw options with axing welfare cuts and scrapping the two-child cap, and my daughter with rebellious backbenchers.

Politics latest: Former Labour leader calls for wealth tax on assets above £10m

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

That is the tension currently present between Downing Street and Labour MPs. And my initial ultimatum is the messaging being pumped out from the government this weekend.

In essence: you’ve had your welfare U-turn, so there’s no money left for the two-child cap to go as well.

As an aside – and before my inbox fills with angry emails lambasting me for using such a crude metaphor for policies that fundamentally alter the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society – yes, I hear you, and that’s part of my point.

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Welfare U-turn ‘has come at cost’

For many in Labour, this approach feels like the lives of their constituents are being used in a childish game of horse-trading.

So what can be done?

Well, the government could change the rules.

Altering the fiscal rules is – and will likely remain – an extremely unlikely solution. But as it happens, one of Labour’s proverbial grandparents has just popped round with a different suggestion.

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Welfare: ‘Didn’t get process right’ – PM

A wealth tax, Lord Neil Kinnock says, is the necessary outcome of the economic restrictions the party has placed on itself.

Ever the Labour storyteller, Lord Kinnock believes this would allow the government to craft a more compelling narrative about whose side this administration is on.

That could be valuable, given one of the big gripes from many backbench critics is that they still don’t really understand what this prime minister stands for – and by extension, what all these “difficult decisions” are in aid of.

The downside is whether it will actually raise much money.

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Is Corbyn an existential risk to Labour?

The super-rich may have lots of assets to take a slice from, but they also have expensive lawyers ready to find novel ways to keep their client’s cash away from the prying eyes of the state.

Or, of course, they could just leave – as many are doing already.

In the short term, the future is a bit easier to predict.

If Downing Street is indeed now saying there is no money to scrap the two-child cap (after heavy briefing in the opposite direction just weeks ago), an almighty tantrum from the backbenches is inevitable.

And as every parent knows, the more you give in, the harder it becomes to hold the line.

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