Labour's private school VAT plan can benefit Scotland's children

Labour's move to abolish a massive tax perk for private school parents is a sensible move. Detractors believe it will lead to an exodus from the independent sector and put pressure on state schools.

They claim it will lead to higher class sizes and harm comprehensive. This is nonsense.

If parents can afford to sent their children to exclusive private schools, they should be willing to pay VAT on it like any other non-essential spending. We have no qualms about parents making the best choice for their children.

But the current set-up gives people who go private a massive tax perk when they make a decision as consumers. VAT is levied on a range of other items, but inexplicably not private education.

Labour’s policy of addressing this anomaly is both overdue and just. But the more important element is how the £1.5billion raised will benefit kids from state schools.

Scotland’s share will be £150million and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar wants the cash spent on teacher numbers. He believes the funding injection negates the need for cuts to teachers and can result in an increase in headcount.

He also says the SNP Government should allocate some of the money to expanding free breakfasts for pupils. The policy is a simple example of how redistribution from the wealthy can benefit people from deprived areas.

State schools have been starved of resources for over a decade as a result of austerity. Pupils who need extra support have also had to go without.

Labour’s plan is a sign Scotland can turn the corner on the past and look forward to a brighter future.

Time to punt the Flamingo Land resort plan

The long-running saga over Flamingo Land’s plan to build a huge resort on the banks of Loch Lomond is finally nearing its end. In a matter of months, the National Park Authority is expected to rule on whether the controversial £40million development can go ahead.

If the Scottish Greens are right, it’s the most objected to planning application in Scottish history. The number of signatures to the party’s petition – 94,000 and counting – shows people value Scotland’s natural landscape and don’t want it wrecked.

The Bonnie Banks are one of the country’s iconic vistas and it’s no wonder so many Scots don’t want a mega holiday complex built there, replete with hotels, a monorail, a waterpark and hundreds of parking spaces. It’s incumbent that the National Park takes notice of local feeling – and there’s little evidence they’ve ever been anything other than decisively opposed to this bid.

They should listen to the people and act accordingly.

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