Labour’s plan for VAT on private schools highlights

Dr Elizabeth Shawcross says it will hit poorer rural areas hard, William Rees and Isaac Woolley consider the effect on those with special educational needs, while the head of Keir Starmer’s old school, Shaun Fenton, hopes the UK won’t tax education

I’m writing as a hard-working GP in the NHS. I’ve voted Labour in the past but I will not be voting for Labour in this election. I do not agree with Labour’s VAT on private schools policy (What are Labour’s plans for ending tax breaks for private schools?, 29 May). I believe there is an angle that Keir Starmer hasn’t considered, which will have a significant impact on less privileged rural communities such as where I work in north Devon.

I moved to a low socioeconomic area to provide good healthcare for the community, as my father did in the 1980s. My children do not attend the local state school as I do not feel it would provide them with a good education. They attend the excellent private day school that is nurturing them exactly as I could ever wish for.