Blair's old school ‘to axe teachers' after Labour VAT raid

Teachers at Sir Tony Blair's former college are facing redundancy after Labour's VAT raid on private school fees.
Fettes College in Edinburgh, which charges up to £54,000 a year, is examining its options for reducing staff after changes to VAT and National Insurance forced it into 'difficult' decisions.
It comes as private schools experienced their biggest year-on-year drop in pupil numbers for more than a decade.
A number of schools across the country have also had to close, with others revealing the cost of Labour changes had run into seven figures.
Fettes College sits on 100 acres and offers mountain views, woodland and green space on campus. Pupils pay up to £15,150 a term, rising to £18,000 if they board.
However, it has been hit by Chancellor Rachel Reeves's decision to remove the VAT exemption on private school fees from January 1 and hike employer National Insurance contributions from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent.
It is now running a consultation with staff that could lead to redundancies.
A Fettes College spokesman said: 'Various factors have conspired to increase costs on all organisations and schools are not immune, particularly with the recent imposition of VAT on school fees and rise in National Insurance contributions.
'Despite being financially very well managed with a strong student roll, these factors are having an impact on our costs and numbers, and we are obliged to run our operations as efficiently as possible.
'A consultation process began in May to right-size our staffing model. This difficult decision may result in some redundancies.'
Experts have previously warned that the raid could hurt thousands of Scottish children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Pupils with an educational, health and care plan are exempt from the increase in fees, but the system does not exist in Scotland.
Private school pupil numbers have already fallen by more than 11,000 across England, with some schools already forced to close after becoming unaffordable.
Park Hill School in Surrey, London-based Falcons School and Wakefield Independent School are among those which have said they will shut their doors.
The headmaster of Malvern College, based in Worcestershire, said the raid had cost his school £2m.
Earlier this month, affected families brought a series of High Court legal challenges in a bid to reverse the Government's decision.
However, judges dismissed all three claims in a single judgment.
Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said: 'This is an unprecedented tax on education, and it was right that its compatibility with human rights law was tested.
'We will continue to work to ensure the government is held to account over the negative impact this tax on education is having across independent and state schools.'

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