Speeches by Hinds.

“My right hon. Friend is correct: substantial export earnings come from the sector, and from a globally mobile set of families. But I would go further; in addition to the direct export earnings effect, there is also an indirect effect. For companies deciding where to site their European headquarters, English education i…”

“My hon. Friend makes a very good point.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As things stand, those who get the continuity of education allowance would be hit, in part, by the tax.”

“I am grateful to both my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) for their interventions. Indeed, there are many places, particularly at secondary school level, where there are insufficient spaces available to accommodate a significant minority being displaced from independent schools—pl…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman.”

“I ask my hon. Friend to forgive me, as I must make progress. As for children whose parents are priced out of a school, or face its closure, disruption to learning can be difficult at any time, but it is even more problematic when pupils have started a public examination course. Their next school might not even offer th…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who, as ever, makes important points. I too am disappointed that the Education Secretary is not with us for this important debate. I will make progress, Mr Speaker, because I do not want to go on longer than I should. To be clear, we want to talk first and foremost not about revenue, bu…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I beg to move, That this House regrets that the Government has decided to impose VAT on independent school fees; believes that educational provision should not be taxed; regrets that the Government is rushing to implement this change part-way through an academic year; calls on the Government to exempt from the VAT char…”

“I am spoilt for choice. I give way to my right hon. Friend.”

“My right hon. Friend is right to identify that many parents make great personal financial sacrifices to do what they believe is best for their children. Some parents whose children go to independent school are rich, and some are definitely not. I include in that latter bracket most of the parents sending their children…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right about the financial sacrifices some make. Let us be clear: it is possible to tax wealthier people or people with a higher income more, but the Government should be honest about it. The way to do so is through the income tax system, not through a choice that people make to have their child in…”

“This is a completely different situation. Independent schools do pay tax.”

“No, independent schools do pay tax on supplies. No tax is charged on education, whether in an independent school or in other settings, and that is a very long-standing principle. Let me clear up one very important definitional point, which I ask colleagues to reflect on. There is no tax break involved. It would be a ta…”

“My hon. Friend is right. That comes from the rushed nature of the legislation. The sloppy drafting means that children who are not of school age get dragged into this tax if they happen to be in the same room as children who are, and there are concerns about what might follow in other borderline cases. The Government c…”

“My right hon. Friend is of course correct about the economic contribution that schools make locally and the large numbers of people they employ. That point was also made by NASUWT, which is worried about teachers being inadvertently pushed out of the profession if redundancies are made mid-way through the school year.”

“I will take one more intervention before making progress, so as not to try your patience too much, Mr Speaker.”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Even for a Lib Dem that is pushing it.”