Bridget Phillipson: I never thought about private school for my children

Bridget Phillipson praised her excellent education at a Catholic comprehensive school. Photo: Charlotte Graham

For many parents, earnings are the equivalent of an MP's pounds. With a salary of $86,584, you'd expect private education options to figure (albeit briefly) in the debate about where to send their children to school.

That's not what happens at Bridget Phillipson's kitchen table.

< 'I would never consider a private school for my children,' says the shadow education secretary who led Labour's controversial plan to charge VAT on private school fees .

“This is a personal choice. I went to a public Catholic school and received an excellent education.”

Now Ms Phillipson wants to create a public education system that would see many more parents forego the option of sending their children to private schools.

Her remarks in an interview with The Telegraph on the eve of Labour's annual meeting conference in Liverpool provide insight into philosophy driven by the 39-year-old member of parliament, who could be put in charge of the country's education system.

Ms Phillipson will this week unveil plans to ensure «high and rising standards» in state schools under a Labor government, building on existing promises including an overhaul of Ofsted's ratings regime and the recruitment of more teachers.

«I don't want that.» did.» visited all private schools'

Ms Phillipson, appointed shadow chief secretary to the Treasury two years ago, also admits she has not made any «official» visits to private schools since her appointment — despite «traveling the length and breadth of the country speaking teachers, school leaders, school support staff.”

“I have not officially visited any private schools in my role, no,” Ms. Phillipson said.

It turns out that The slight caveat to her answer stems from the fact that the hockey team she recently started playing for on weekends occasionally plays games at independent schools.

The decision not to include independent schools among the institutions she officially visited may raise eyebrows given Ms Phillipson is the face of Labour's plan to introduce VAT on private education fees.

She backs Sir Keir's assertion Starmer on schools not 'passing this on to parents as payment'.

Bridget Phillipson backs Keir Starmer argue that schools are not required to pass on VAT to parents in the form of fees. Photo: Getty/Leon Neal

“I think private schools could consider the overall level of tuition fees,” Ms Phillipson said.

“For the last decade or more, private school tuition has risen above inflation year after year. This means that middle-class parents are increasingly being pushed out of private schools.”

Ms Phillipson's approach to independent schools is based on the belief that the public sector provides a «world class» education that should be retained even by those who can afford private fees and «don't even feel they need to consider» the option.< /p>

“I believe that public schools offer the same range of opportunities that parents value in private schools,” she adds. “That's one of the reasons many parents choose them: they love and respect the breadth of opportunities, whether it's discussing sports or music.

“If I were education secretary, I would focus on ensuring this is within the public system so that middle class parents don't feel they even have to consider private schools — but increasingly they can't do that anyway because that costs have just come down.

Under plans unveiled by the Labor Party in the summer, state school pupils will be encouraged to study subjects such as art, music, drama and sport until they turn 16.

Ms Phillipson rejects claims that Labour's approach will lead to middle-class families being deprived of private education, which could lead to a preponderance of state schools in some areas.

“I do not accept the argument that the private school lobby is pushing for this,” she said. “A recent summer report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies makes it clear that they expect limited impact.”

Ms Phillipson and her husband Lawrence, who works in financial services, have an 11-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son who attends state school in London — hundreds of miles from the southern constituency of Houghton and Sunderland, to which she was elected. 2010, aged 26.

Ms Phillipson grew up in a terraced house in Tyne and Wear, which she described as having «rotten windows» and «no heating upstairs».

“My children are incredibly lucky and have many opportunities,” she said.

Bridget Phillipson said that too many children are «denied the opportunities in life they deserve»; Photo: Getty/Dan Kitwood

“But having represented Sunderland and growing up during that time, I know even today that too many children are denied the opportunities in life they deserve.

She adds: “ Too many of our children are not achieving as well as they should, and we are seeing the achievement gap widen, especially since the pandemic.”

Last week The Telegraph reported that Ms Phillipson's team was targeting the Independent Schools Council (ISC) with a campaign to gather damaging information about them.

One set of emails in which ISC staff said that Ms Phillipson «becomes very irritable when people disagree with her», was reported by the Guardian in an apparent attempt to embarrass ISC.

Sources in the independent sector have accused the Labor Party of resorting to «legislation», where powerful people and firms use the legal system to harass and intimidate critics.

Ms Phillipson said: «Private schools are not They try their best to get their opinions across to people, and they are more than capable of justifying what they believe.

“They do it very aggressively and very openly. That is absolutely their right.

“But… I am not going to let selfish interests get in the way of providing an excellent public education for our children.”

Ms Phillipson said the current tuition fee system had an upper limit of £9,250. for domestic students is unstable. She said: «The system we have at the moment means universities are increasingly turning to international students to fill income gaps.»

«A more regressive system for people on lower-middle incomes»

The new system, introduced last month, «will be more regressive for lower-middle-income people» and «is not a sustainable system,» she said. «We're going to have to confront this if we win the election.»

But raising the tuition cap is «a very difficult argument to make in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis,» she said.

So how will Labor change the system?

“The modeling I've seen shows how, even within the existing package, that is, without any additional borrowing or spending, you can create a more progressive system that delivers a monthly reduction in the contribution required of graduates.”

It is clear that the modeling Ms Phillipson refers to in the London paper consulting firm Economics, which would see the return of maintenance grants and lower interest rates for poor graduates financed by higher interest rates for their richer counterparts.

Ms Phillipson sought to revive the «rhetoric of freedom» used by the Conservatives during the party conference in Manchester in September.

She said: “I think that's Labour's argument — I don't believe that the language of freedom, the language of choice, should belong to the Conservatives. And education is one of the greatest contributing factors to this.

“It was education that gave me great freedom in life, opened doors and gave me opportunities that I could not even dream of.”