Andrew Lewer, MP for Northampton South, made a contribution to a debate last week about education in the House of Commons stating that parents paying school fees were doing so out of earned income that has already been subject to income tax as high as 45%.

The repeated use of the term “tax breaks” to describe the zero VAT status of these fees is misleading, asserted Lewer, and also against a fundamental principle of tax in the UK that the supply of education is not taxed.

His intervention was welcomed today by Susan Beck, director of development and communications at Royal Grammar School Newcastle, who took to LinkedIn to state: “A helpful reminder in this question from Andrew Lewer that parents ALREADY pay independent school fees from funds POST (relevant) income tax. In my experience most families who choose independent education make significant sacrifices to spend household income (post 45% tax). It’s a myth that we can keep loading on costs. And a reminder that fee paying parents are already saving the public purse an annual c£7k that it costs to educate a child in the State system. So bravo Andrew for calling out the misuse of ‘tax breaks’.”