‘What Planet Are They On?’: Tory Minister Slammed Over Private School Fees Claim

A Tory minister has been criticised after claiming the cost of sending a child to private school can be the same as a family holiday abroad.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan made the comments as she attacked Labour’s plan to remove the private school sector’s charitable status.

That would force the schools to start paying VAT – with Labour vowing to spend the £1.7bn raised on improving state education.

Speaking in the Commons, Keegan said: “Most of our private schools aren’t like Eton or Harrow – they’re far smaller and they charge a lot less.

″Many cost the same as a family holiday abroad and there’s plenty of parents who choose to forego life’s luxuries to give their children these opportunities.”

Shadow education secretary Bridget Philipson pointed out that average private school fees are around £16,000 a year – eight times the average cost of a foreign holiday.

“It’s not just Rishi Sunak that hasn’t got a clue,” she tweeted. “What planet are this lot on?”