Not one of the 40 Labour politicians invited to discuss the party’s proposed policy on school fees turned up to a fringe event at Labour’s conference in Liverpool hosted by the Independent Schools Council earlier this week, The Telegraph has reported.

Ministers, including members of the shadow cabinet, were invited because they have a significant number of independent schools and/or parents in their constituency.

James Lockwood, head of Woodhouse Grove School, said the policy will “hit the least wealthy families hardest” and warned of its effect on the state sector, adding: “we are not the enemy; we are just schools that form a valuable part of the whole education ecosystem in this country”.

Philip Britton, head of Bolton School where one in five pupils are on bursaries, warned the policy “will damage some schools while not actually creating any benefit for others”.