Bridget Phillipson's allies hit back at 'nasty venom' from private school VAT critics (2025)

In a Cabinet full of ministers making unpopular decisions, Bridget Phillipson has become the leading lightning rod for Labour’s public-sector reforms since the party returned to government nine months ago.

As the public face of Labour’s policy to charge VAT on private school fees, the Education Secretary has faced criticism from the Conservatives and some sections of the media, while her attempts to reform academies have also sparked a backlash.

Phillipson has even been the subject of anonymous briefings from inside the Government, with reports earlier this year that Downing Street was unhappy about the academies bill. There were also suspicions that Treasury insiders had leaked details of the minister’s offer of “bleeding stumps” cuts for the Spending Review, which were denied by Phillipson’s camp.

But allies of the Education Secretary have revealed that, far from shrinking away from the criticism, the flak has actually motivated her even more to push ahead with Labour’s reforms.

“It has really stiffened her resolve to get on the front foot,” a friend said.

“She is not going to let that [the criticism] stop her. The important thing to show is that despite the briefings, we are not going to let this affect the agenda. It is actually spurring her on to show she is delivering.”

‘Nasty venom’ in private schools clash

In an interview with The i Paper last week, Phillipson showed no sign of backing down on the VAT policy, saying that private schools (and the Tories) had “cried wolf” by warning of a disaster to the independent sector and pointing out that “more parents than ever got their first-choice school offer this year”.

These comments provoked anger from private school representatives, who said the full effects of the policy were yet to materialise. While seven schools have been forced to close due to the policy, the sector has warned of as many as 200 more on the brink.

But friends say her bullish tone is a sign that she will not back down and is unafraid to speak out to deliver reforms for children.

“She has had a lot of grief from the right about some of the reform stuff, and some really vicious and nasty editorials. It is purely based on the VAT policy,” the friend added.

“These people don’t like the fact that a state-educated woman from a working-class background of Bridget’s ilk is educating them on education and what it means to reform the education system. It all comes back to VAT.

“They are projecting a lot of angst through the prism of VAT. When she is in the chamber, MPs from the right, there is a lot of nasty venom. A lot of these MPs were privately educated, and they feel it very personally.”

Tensions over reform agenda

Phillipson’s reform agenda includes improving early years education, through the “best start in life” strand to get children school-ready, including more school-based nurseries and free breakfast clubs.

The new entitlements for free childcare hours for babies aged nine months come into effect in September.

The Government is also pushing ahead with changes to qualifications for adult apprenticeships, scrapping the requirement for applicants to pass maths and English – plans which are understood to have gone down well in focus groups.

Phillipson has also announced plans for teachers to get more AI assistance in the classroom for paperwork.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which contains the academies reforms, is currently progressing through the House of Lords. Insiders say this will allow education ministers to highlight the importance of the legislation.

However, Phillipson’s planned reforms to academies have caused an outcry among Tory MPs, and there were reports in January that No 10 was taken aback by the backlash.

The bill would force academies, introduced under the last Labour government, to follow the national curriculum and limit their autonomy on areas like teacher recruitment and pay.

The Education Secretary then clarified that the provision of following national pay rates would introduce a floor but not a ceiling.

But some criticism remains. An education sector source said: “Who really wants this other than the education unions?”

Internal briefings

Friends said there had always been opposition inside some parts of Labour to the academies’ measures in the bill because they mistakenly believe it is “somehow at odds with what the last Labour government did”.

The reforms were about modernising the education system for today, a friend added: “This is about getting the school system ready for the 2030s. We don’t do that by preserving the current system in aspic if parts of it aren’t working.

“She is getting on the front foot, and those briefings will die down when there is evidence we are getting out there and talking about our agenda and delivering on it. It is hard for people to say we are not doing a good job.

“None of this is going to distract from delivering on the agenda. If you have got a track record of delivery, they will start to die down. Bridget knows how important it is to get change quickly, she is laser-focused on that.”

It is certainly true that picking a fight with private schools by claiming they have “cried wolf” will go down well in Labour circles. But, given Phillipson’s name is often mentioned in reports about a possible reshuffle by Starmer later this year, will her intervention be enough to save her job?

Some in Downing Street believe she may have become too in thrall to the Department for Education, a Whitehall institution long seen by reformers as too cosy with producer interests and the unions.

‘If the teachers’ union isn’t calling for you to be fired, you’re doing something wrong’

Amid rumblings of fresh strike action by teachers over pay, which circulated at this week’s National Education Union (NEU) annual conference, Phillipson has warned that “any move towards industrial action by teaching unions would be indefensible”.

Yet some insiders in the sector believe she has not been tough enough on the education unions. A Department for Education (DfE) watcher said: “I think it’s interesting that Phillipson has not been denounced in bloodthirsty terms at the NEU conference this year.

“If the NEU isn’t calling for you to be fired, you’re doing something wrong.”

This was, the source claimed, a particularly crucial moment for ministers to stand firm against teaching unions, because the normally centrist union NASUWT is poised to anoint Matt Wrack, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn and a former head of the Fire Brigades Union, as its new general secretary.

The DfE watcher added: “That is just about the worst news possible from a union which has always been keen on doing deals and has little history of politicisation.”

Even if Phillipson is confident she can face down her critics, the question of potential cuts in the forthcoming spending review in June remains.

At the NEU conference this week, general secretary Daniel Kebede – responding to Phillipson’s comments that strikes would be “indefensible”, told delegates: “I say to this government: it is indefensible for a Labour government – a Labour government! – to cut school funding.”

Painful choices on cuts

Last month, it was claimed by some Government insiders that Phillipson had submitted to the Treasury a programme of savings as a so-called “bleeding stumps” strategy – offering cuts so drastic in the knowledge that they would never be given the go-ahead.

This was denied at the time by sources close to her. Nevertheless, with all departments asked to make savings for the Spending Review, experts say there are expected to be some painful choices.

Iain Mansfield, director of research at Policy Exchange and a former DfE special adviser and civil servant, said: “There’s a tricky thing in the education department, because the core schools budget accounts for roughly three quarters of the budget and often that’s protected in real terms per pupil – ministers like to be able to say they have protected the schools budget.

“Then the challenge with that is it means that more of the savings fall disproportionately elsewhere. That can mean that some areas which are perhaps not so fashionable, such as further education and skills, get cut.

“There is a difference between what’s politically expedient and what is right. One of the dangers is always just to salami-slice rather than making difficult choices.”

Mansfield warned that the special educational needs budget is “ballooning” due to extra demand, with a lot of councils warning they risk going bankrupt because of the pressures.

He added: “Although Phillipson has indicated that she’s looking to do wholesale reform of the SEND system, which is absolutely the right thing to do, that probably won’t actually end up coming into effect in time to affect much of the Spending Review. So there’s going to be a really strong budgetary pressure there as well.”

Mansfield argued that skills funding should be increased because it would boost the life chances of more disadvantaged young people – a crucial demographic given the increasing numbers not in education, employment or training.

He said: “And it’s certainly an area which is historically done badly. It is essential they preserve that and invest in it if they want to cut the welfare budget and want to wean us off dependence on immigration.”

One area where savings could be made is with universal infant free school meals, which was reported to be on the “bleeding stumps” target list but which Phillipson has insisted will remain, telling The i Paper last week that the idea of scrapping them was “complete nonsense”.

However, Mansfield said: “It would be politically difficult, but it would make sense to look at. Throughout the rest of the school system, it is only the children of poorer families who get free school meals.

“But if you means-test for infants in the same way as you do across the rest of the school system, that would be logical and could save probably around £400m or so.”