The list of social ills to be vanquished by imposing tax of private school fees has grown yet again.

Writing in iNews, Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said a Labour government would introduce a 10-year programme to tackle knife crime and improve the lives of young people in the UK, adding that teenagers found to be carrying knives would receive “not just slaps on the wrist”.

In a separate news article, iNews reported that Labour’s scheme would be backed by £100 million, to be raised from taxing independent school fees.

This followed the announcement by Sir Kier Starmer that the school fee rises will be spent on mental health support for every school in England, which itself followed the announcement that the money is earmarked for the state education sector.