A Tory Education Minister has been branded "out of touch" for saying his "biggest fear of all" was Labour's plan to remove tax breaks for private schools.
Jonathan Gullis told a Tory conference fringe event that Keir Starmer's pledge to strip charitable status from independent schools to pour cash into state schools would create a “more elitist” system.
He argued the Government shouldn't “punish” the aspiration of middle-income earners, according to TES.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson expressed astonishment at the comments.
She said: “It says everything about this out-of-touch Conservative Government that the Schools Minister’s ‘biggest fear’ is a plan to fund state schools to better support the majority of children in this country.
“Voters already know exactly what side the Conservatives are on, after they crashed the economy by handing enormous unfunded tax cuts to those who earn millions and leaving working people to pay higher prices and mortgage rates for years to come.
“ Labour will use money raised by scrapping charitable tax status for private school to fund the most ambitious state school improvement plan in a generation.”
Mr Gullis also said he hoped to bring forward legislation to lift the ban on new grammar schools before the next election.
“No date has been bid for nor has been set regarding any potential legislation lifting the ban on grammar schools," he said.
“So will it be this parliament session? The answer is I don’t know at this moment in time.”
But he said Liz Truss had her views known during the leadership contest, when she said she was a fan of grammars and had sent her daughters to one.
Mr Gullis also pointed to a recent interview with Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, where he revealed he had been tasked with drawing up a blueprint for a new wave of selective schools, outlawed under Labour in 1998.
The former teacher said: “My views are very much on the record. So I would hope that there will be before the next election legislation brought forward to lift that ban.”
But he faces a battle in Parliament over the controversial plan, after Michael Gove warned grammars favour richer families and expanding them "would not raise standards".
The former Education Secretary told a conference fringe event: "If we talk about grammar schools, what we're saying is we're only interested in 25% or 30% of children.”
He went on: “We should not be looking backwards into an educational situation where we're dividing children between those destined for success, and those who were overlooked.
“We need to make sure every child has an outstanding education. That is the truly Conservative answer.”
