Despite playing a crucial role in the Welsh education system, private and independent schools are now firmly in Labour’s crosshairs. Given that Labour has already taken aim at pensioners and farmers, this latest move is, sadly, not surprising.

These schools are now facing a triple whammy of tax hikes: an increase in National Insurance, the removal of rate relief for charity-run schools, and the addition of VAT to school fees. These changes won’t generate significant revenue, they are driven by ideology, not economics. It’s a policy rooted in resentment rather than reason.

Labour’s hostility toward these schools became crystal clear during a recent session in the Welsh Parliament. When I raised concerns, former First Minister and current Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford MS responded with an outburst that missed the point entirely. He dismissed my questions with a rant about privilege, deliberately misconstruing my argument.

Later, I raised the issue again with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle. Instead of addressing the real impact of these policies, she doubled down on Labour’s position and claimed not to have heard Drakeford’s remarks. This kind of evasion shows just how allergic Labour is to scrutiny.

But this isn’t just about private schools. It’s about the wider system. One Labour MP admitted the tax changes could cause around 100 private schools to close, though the real number could be even higher. That would displace more than 40,000 pupils and cut around 11,000 jobs.

Where will these students go? Into an already overstretched and underfunded state sector. One private school in Wales currently supports 86 ALN (Additional Learning Needs) students, whose families pay privately. If they move to state schools, it would cost the government nearly £630,000 per year. On a UK-wide scale, if between 90,000 and 135,000 students leave the private sector, the taxpayer could face an additional burden of between £648 million and £972 million. This is money that could be spent training and hiring teachers, rather than score partisan political points.

When I asked what assessment, the Welsh Government had made of the potential impact that the tax changes would have on schools in Wales, the Education Cabinet Secretary simply said her team “keeps an eye” on school demand. That kind of response doesn’t inspire much confidence.

Labour’s approach isn’t about fairness, it’s about politics. And the consequences could be felt by every taxpayer and every school in the country.