Peter Roberts, the headmaster of private school Ampleforth College in Yorkshire has pledged not to pass Labour’s threatened tax hike on to parents, saying the school will do everything it can to absorb the proposed 20% VAT which the party plans to impose on school fees, the Daily Mail has reported.

Roberts told the Daily Telegraph: “If there is a VAT thing, we will not pass it on to the parents. We will just do all we can to make sure we get through, just as we always do.”

Labour’s VAT plan aims to raise £1.5 billion a year with the tax which it plans to spend on state schools.