𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch has branded Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson a “disgrace to people who grew up on a council estate” as she attacked the VAT policy on private school fees.

The Conservative leader’s comments on Monday night came after the two politicians clashed in Parliament last week.

Speaking at a Politics UK event, Mrs Badenoch accused the Education Secretary of failure and incompetence.

She said: “Look at Bridget Phillipson, for example, there are 40,000 pupils who have been displaced because of her policies.

“She claimed that she was taxing schools so that she could get more teachers. 6,000 more teachers she promised. We now have 2,000 fewer teachers. This is failure. This is incompetence.

“And she doesn’t want to talk about the lives that she’s ruined and the jobs that she’s lost. Heritage schools that have been there for a long time. It’s not just private school [that have been ruined] but academies as well.

“It’s not about them, it’s all about her. She grew up on a council estate. She’s a disgrace to people who grew up on a council estate. That is not an excuse for failure. Brilliant people grew up on council estates and have done a lot better than her. She’s just no good at the job and I’m not going to pretend otherwsie so she doesn’t feel bad about it. She should feel bad about it.”

During her regular exchange with Sir Keir Starmer last week, Mrs Badenoch had said Ms Phillipson “taxed private schools to pay for more teachers but the number of teachers has gone down”.

“It turns out appointing a spiteful class warrior as Education Secretary was a disaster,” she said, suggesting Sir Keir had been “let down by her incompetence”.

Sources said the pair later exchanged further hostile words in the division lobby.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said she would not apologise for her remarks.

She has claimed Ms Phillipson’s imposition of VAT on private schools had “displaced” 40,000 pupils through school closures or because their parents could no longer afford the fees.

And she said the Education Secretary had failed to deliver the extra 6,500 teachers promised in Labour’s manifesto, saying there were 2,000 fewer teachers than when the party came to power.

In an interview with the Spectator last month, the Tory leader compared the Education Secretary’s imposition of VAT on private schools to the actions of a “Gestapo officer”, referring to Nazi Germany’s secret police.

On Wednesday, Ms Phillipson told LBC Mrs Badenoch was “perpetually angry” and had been “getting worse every week”.

She said: “If I was going to say something, it would probably be pretty foul-mouthed, so it’s best to rise above it, best to be the bigger person.”

A Labour source said: “When you’re living rent free in the Tories’ heads you know you’re doing something right.

“She may think it buys her credit with her activists but every vicious remark by Kemi Badenoch alienates her further from the public who despise this sort of performative nastiness.

“Badenoch offers nothing except the same division and grievance peddled by Nigel Farage. Bridget Phillipson offers hope and opportunity for the 93% of children in our state schools and their families.”

Bridget Phillipson has been contacted for comment.