MPs can afford to be snarky with voters

George Watson’s College has given notice of a forthcoming planning application to install artificial pitches at Myreside

I don’t know precisely how many families living in the Edinburgh South West parliamentary constituency send their kids to private school, but on a rough estimate it will be at least a fifth of them.

Maybe things are going so well for the Labour Party that their MPs can afford to be snarky with that number of voters, or so it would seem from a Facebook post by the MP Scott Arthur, who decided it would be a good idea to rub their noses in it after his government slapped VAT on school fees.

Reacting to the news that George Watson’s College had given notice of a forthcoming planning application to install artificial pitches at Myreside, Mr Arthur commented on the page set up to oppose VAT on school fees that: “I know there has been speculation regarding the financial heath (sic) of private schools in Edinburgh, so I expect some people will be reassured that George Watson’s College can consider this investment.”

Apart from the fact the plans (which I don’t like – the pitches should be built at Craiglockhart) have been in preparation for some time and will ultimately save the school money it spends on hiring hockey pitches at Peffermill, as far as I am aware the school does not have the money and is exploring partnerships.

But VAT has made such projects more affordable because the tax can now be claimed back, something which maybe hadn’t occurred to class warriors like the bold Scott in their zeal to milk the “rich”.