Emily Thornberry lifts the lid on growing class size concerns - John McLellan

Parents will be discovering in less than two years’ time that many schools will be over capacity

Correct … in less than two years’ time they will all be over capacity, and it’s no coincidence that the other nine expected to have spare places are those serving the most deprived areas.

With that in mind I welcomed Labour shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry’s admission that her party’s plan to impose VAT on private school fees would increase class sizes in the state sector, bringing much needed honesty to this increasingly bitter debate.

As one of the fully paid-up members of Labour’s London metropolitan establishment, she might not be aware of the impact her party’s policy will have on Edinburgh schools, but she was almost spot on.

“It would be fine if we have to, in the short term, have larger classes,” she said, and while she’s right about the effect, it’s far from fine for those children whose school experience could suffer as a result.

As mentioned in last week’s column, a recent study by Biggar Economics for the Scottish Council of Independent Schools indicates the introduction of VAT will force the families of well over 1000 children to leave the independent sector in Edinburgh alone.

The vast majority, if not all, will live in the catchment areas of the already over-subscribed schools so it’s undeniable there is a problem.

And in fairness to Edinburgh’s only Labour MP Ian Murray, he openly acknowledged Edinburgh’s “unique problems” in a recent response to inquiries about the issue.

“I’m very lucky to represent a constituency with some of the best state schools in Scotland but there simply isn’t enough capacity,” he wrote.

“Many parents must either pay additional capital costs for a home close to a good state school or pay the additional revenue in school fees to go into the independent sector. This is the reality and I absolutely understand this,” he added.

Mr Murray also said he had raised Edinburgh’s specific problems with the Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and is sending all correspondence he has received to her team.

Far be it for me to accuse Ms Phillipson of dishonesty, so I can only conclude she must have forgotten what Mr Murray has been telling her when she played down Ms Thornberry’s comments. “I’m afraid there’s been some misunderstanding there,” she told the BBC on Monday, but if there is any misunderstanding it is hers.

With her usual clever-clogs attitude, she simply said it “is not our policy,” which may be the case, but it’s certainly the impact, and not just here, but in Aberdeen and the leafier parts of Glasgow.

Edinburgh Council’s response to the looming crisis appears to be one of blissful and almost wilful ignorance because there have been no reports to three meetings of the Education and Families committee this year, the most recent on Tuesday.

It’s not clear how long it will take to introduce VAT, but as Labour has promised to act immediately on one of the few specific left-wing policies to which it can point, it could be as soon as autumn. Yet the council appears to be doing nothing.

And it’s noticeable how silent the SNP is on ignoring Scotland’s special circumstances when they can’t blame the Conservatives.