Labour to fund primary school breakfast clubs by bringing back top tax rate
Free primary school breakfast clubs would be funded by reintroducing the 45p top rate of income tax, Labour has said.
The party would introduce a club at every primary school in England in what it described as the “first step” towards a modern childcare system.
But fact-checkers warned on Tuesday that borrowing or taxes would need to rise – or other public spending to be cut – to balance the books if the package was introduced.
Labour estimates that it would raise £2 billion by reversing Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to scrap the top rate of income tax.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said on Monday she would use the money to create thousands of additional nursing and midwifery placements, which the party predicts will cost £1.6 billion.
From the remaining funds, £360 million will fund the breakfast clubs scheme.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, will tell the final day of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on Wednesday that “life should not come down to luck”.
She will say: “The evidence couldn’t be clearer – gaps in learning development, gaps in opportunities, open up early, so our solutions must start early too. Labour will build a modern childcare system, one that supports families from the end of parental leave through to the end of primary school.
“As the first step on that road, we will introduce breakfast clubs for every primary school child in England, driving up standards in maths, reading, and writing, and giving mums and dads choices.”
But Full Fact, a fact-checking charity, pointed out that Ms Reeves had previously described Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cuts as “unfunded” and said: “That suggests maintaining the status quo of the 45p rate would not free up any new money to spend on NHS staff, unless some other part of government spending was reduced, taxes increased or borrowing increased.”
In her speech, Ms Phillipson will also take aim at class sizes, describing them as “too big”. A survey for the NASUWT teachers’ union earlier this year found that three in four said class sizes were getting bigger, with nine out of 10 warning that this was adversely affecting pupils.
