The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily, finishing in 11 days, to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson

Professor John Robertson OBA

Fettes College in Edinburgh with nine-hole golf course, an ice-skating rink used in winter for ice hockey and in summer as an outdoor swimming pool, a cross-country running track and a rifle shooting range within the forested 300-acre grounds.

From BBC News in July 2024:

It’s a Reform UK manifesto pledge to ‘ease the pressures’ in schools. Reform UK is encouraging parents to send their children to independent schools with the promise of a 20% tax relief on fees. Many will see this as a questionable pledge in terms of the substance, scale, and benefits it would bring to millions of families who can’t afford a private education for their children.¹ 

I’d say:

More private schools opening than closing in England despite Labour’s VAT proposals, tell you all you need to know. In Scotland two tiny religious schools which had already been on the verge of closing years before the VAT announcement, will now close but two sites have also been confirmed for new schools. There’s a simple conclusion here. These institutions which perpetuate inequality, divisiveness, unfair patronage and an archaic class system can easily survive taxation at the level Labour propose and so should be taxed more. ^{2, 3, 4}

Sources:

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqll1edxgw4o
2. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/26/no-rise-private-school-closures-england-since-labour-vat-proposal-data
3. https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/specialist-sector/why-are-independent-schools-closing-scotland#:~:text=schools%2Dclosing%2Dscotland-,The%20news%20that%20two%20Scottish%20independent%20schools%20are%20closing%20raises,no%20choice%20but%20to%20close.%E2%80%9D
4. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05222/#:~:text=What%20are%20independent%2C%20or%20private,is%20the%20Labour%20government%20planning?

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