Political spats come and go, but one that may enter the history books occurred on the last Wednesday of November 2022. Against a background of the right-wing press launching a barrage of attacks on Labour’s proposed imposition of VAT on private-school fees, Keir Starmer surprised many by going on the offensive at Prime Minister’s Questions, with Rishi Sunak’s prestigious alma mater specifically in his sights. “Winchester College has a rowing club, a rifle club and extensive art collection – they charge over £45,000 a year in fees,” Starmer declared, before asking why the Conservative prime minister had, through the VAT exemption, handed it “nearly £6m of taxpayers’ money this year”. Starmer contrasted the very different educational resources down the road in Southampton (Sunak’s home city), where he said four in every ten state-school pupils failed either their English or maths GCSEs. “Is that £6m of taxpayers’ money,” he asked, “better spent on rifle ranges in Winchester or driving up standards in Southampton?”
Sunak responded with apparently genuine anger. Accusing the leader of the opposition of “attacking the hard-working aspiration of millions of people in this country”, he went on: “He is attacking people like my parents. This is a country that believes in opportunity, not resentment. He doesn’t understand that, and that’s why he’s not fit to lead.” A last word went to Starmer, saying that Sunak was being “pushed around by the lobbyists” over the private-school issue.
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