25 signatures reached
To: Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, David Cameron
End Charitable Status of Private Schools and save taxpayers the £100m this costs.
Include a pledge to end the Charitable Status of Private Schools in your party's manifesto for the 2015 General Election.as a indication of your party's commitment to fairness and equality of opportunity for all.
Why is this important?
It is very unfair that ordinary taxpayers contribute an estimated £100m to private schools due to their 'Charitable Status'. These elitist schools educate the children of very wealthy parents, charging exorbitant fees, which is hardly an act of charity!
In addition to the £100m that comes from the public purse, many private schools offer fee paying schemes that enable very rich parents of pupils to reduce their own personal tax burden by advanced payment. How can perpetrating tax advantages for the education of the elitist few be considered fair in the 21st century?
Education of children is recognised by the United Nations as a right. It is no longer perceived as an act of charity. This may have been different in Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Now British private schools are highly elitist and their reputations are so well known that they attract many students from abroad.
The headmaster of one leading public school has cautioned that private schools must avoid becoming 'isolated enclaves of privilege'. It is difficult to see how this can ever be achieved given their different status from state schools. They do not have to follow the National Curriculum nor are they accountable to Ofsted. There is often a massive physical difference in campus size, enabling them to provide facilities such as golf courses. An example was Eton's 'generosity' in allowing its world class facilities to be used for staging events during the London Olympics 2012. Their advantages are far too many to list!
Please include a pledge to end the charitable status of private schools in your party's election manifesto. It may require careful redrafting of the legal meaning of 'charitable status' but I believe this would make the term worthier of its name. As well as regaining £100m in tax, it would make a huge difference to people's perception of your party's commitment to equality of opportunity for all.
In addition to the £100m that comes from the public purse, many private schools offer fee paying schemes that enable very rich parents of pupils to reduce their own personal tax burden by advanced payment. How can perpetrating tax advantages for the education of the elitist few be considered fair in the 21st century?
Education of children is recognised by the United Nations as a right. It is no longer perceived as an act of charity. This may have been different in Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Now British private schools are highly elitist and their reputations are so well known that they attract many students from abroad.
The headmaster of one leading public school has cautioned that private schools must avoid becoming 'isolated enclaves of privilege'. It is difficult to see how this can ever be achieved given their different status from state schools. They do not have to follow the National Curriculum nor are they accountable to Ofsted. There is often a massive physical difference in campus size, enabling them to provide facilities such as golf courses. An example was Eton's 'generosity' in allowing its world class facilities to be used for staging events during the London Olympics 2012. Their advantages are far too many to list!
Please include a pledge to end the charitable status of private schools in your party's election manifesto. It may require careful redrafting of the legal meaning of 'charitable status' but I believe this would make the term worthier of its name. As well as regaining £100m in tax, it would make a huge difference to people's perception of your party's commitment to equality of opportunity for all.
