Emily Thornberry

The shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has stated that the VAT raised from taxing private school fees will be used to pay for breakfasts for children attending state schools.

In an interview broadcast yesterday on GB News Thornberry said: “We need to raise the money in order to make sure that children going to state schools have had breakfast. That’s what our priority is and we need to raise the money from somewhere.

“And what we are going to do is we are saying everything we’re going to spend money on we’re saying where the money is coming from. Because we will have a properly costed manifesto and all our spending commitments will be costed and we will be able to say where it comes from.

“And sure. there may well be complaints about it – I understand that – but I’m afraid that if I have a choice between putting VAT on private schools and making sure that the children in my area can have breakfast before they start learning I know where I am.”