Why is no one marching against VAT on school fees?

How passively we respond to revelations of Labour’s real direction of travel. As millions of pensioners brace for the confiscation of winter fuel payments and other Budget tax raids, shouldn’t they be pinning on their medals, raising their banners and marching down Whitehall – alongside columns of private school parents, furious at the imposition of VAT on fees? Yet so far barely a whimper of protest, as though those affected are racked with guilt at having kept the Tories in power for so long.

In response to the school-fee fait accompli, Eton with its mile-long waiting list will hit parents with a full 20 per cent VAT hike from January, taking the annual cost per pupil to £63,000. The Girls’ Day School Trust, representing 23 schools, will hold the increase to 12 per cent (£20,000 for day pupils) by squeezing pre-VAT fees. As 2,500 other schools fall into line, parents must either pay up or give up their aspirations for their offspring.