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Keir Starmer wants to remove independent schools' charitable status Credit: Labor Party

Sir Keir Starmer laid out his plans for a tax raid on private schools if his Labor Party wins the next general election.

Sir Keir is confident that Labor's policies will raise money to fund others programs in education, but some experts questioned his findings and raised concerns about the broader impact of the proposals.

The Telegraph looks at what the private school plan could mean in practice.< /p>What does Labor want to do?

Tuition fees for independent schools are currently covered by the VAT exemption due to their charitable status.

< p>However, had Labor been in government, they would have canceled that arrangement, a move they say would benefit the £1.6bn public purse.

He said the policy would pay for «the most ambitious school improvement program in a generation,» although he didn't say how much that overall program would cost.

Private School Finder Tool. What will Labor do with the money?

In November, Sir Keir promised to use the money the Treasury received from taxing private schools to fund a series of catch-up schemes for underprivileged students and those who have been unable to attend school due to the pandemic.

Labor has already earmarked £350m from the proposal to recruit more than 6,500 new teachers if it enters government.

Earlier this week, Education Minister Bridget Phillipson unveiled plans to use the £56m from the tax raid. give teachers a 'golden welcome' in the form of a £2,400 welcome bonus.

Ms Phillipson hopes so-called 'full pay' incentive payments will stop the number of tutors leaving the profession.

However, the Conservatives criticized this as «another reckless spending plan» as a senior party. the figures insisted that Labor had already spent the money elsewhere.

Do the amounts add up?

Labor said their tax raid would raise around £1.6bn in VAT, a figure disputed alongside scientists and think tanks.

Last month, the EDSK think tank, led by Tom Richmond, a former government adviser, warned that removing the charitable status of private schools would likely bring in £600m less than Sir Keir hoped, and might even generate no revenue at all.

The EDSK report claims that Labor's work included more than 50,000 students actually educated in the public sector, as well as boarding school fees that are not subject to VAT.

Defending the numbers in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today program on 6 July, Sir Keir said: «We've been stress testing these numbers for a long period of time and I'm confident in the money.»

“ This is in line with the general principle what we're trying to do, which is: when we make a commitment, we say how much it costs and where the money comes from.”

Haven't we heard that before from the Workers?

Yes. Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir's predecessor, also pledged to relinquish the philanthropic status of private schools.

Sir Keir sought to distance himself from Mr. Corbyn on a wide range of economic issues. , he retained this particular policy, which was part of Labor's general election as a manifesto promise in 2019.

At Labor's annual party conference that year, delegates pledged to abolish private schools, although Sir Keir has since pushed for that the party does not want to do this.

He also insisted that he would not condemn Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for privately educating his own children.