THE new Labour government has renewed its pledge to end the VAT exemption for private schools despite it being branded 'green-eyed'.

HM Treasury insisted 'ending tax breaks' would help fund education for all pupils after the head of Lomond School in Helensburgh warned of 'skyrocketing costs'.

Jonathan Hewat, registrar of the school, questioned recently if private schools would return to the Victorian era of being for the 'super rich' only.

"I do hope not," he wrote online.

He was quoted as calling Labour plans 'green-eyed, spineless Labour idiocy' that would force some independent schools to market themselves 'hard'.

In a post on LinkedIn, he said: "What is it that persuades parents to part with eye-watering amounts of money to educate their child in the private system, often at the cost of making economies in other areas of their lives?

"Many reasons – it may be pupil to teacher ratio, facilities, extra-curricular opportunities, outstanding examination results or demonstrable value-added.

"However, by far the two biggest single draws in selecting a private school is 1. if you have been to one yourself and 2. reputation, recommendation and word of mouth.

"The watchwords must be ‘value for money’. This requires a relentless pursuit of excellence in all that schools offer. Schools must ensure that they are tailored, not uniform.

"Their reputation is their calling card to the outside world; it is how they are identified and remembered."

Councillor Maurice Corry, writing in the Advertiser this week, said the threat to private schools faced with closure over tax changes 'would put huge pressure on our local state schools which are already bursting at the seams due to years of SNP cuts'.

But the UK Treasury said pupil numbers remained stable at independent schools despite huge increases in fees over the past two decades.

A spokesperson said: "We want to ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed.

"Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year.

“There has been an approximately 75 per cent increase in private sector fees since 2000 and the number of children in independent schools has remained steady, so we do not expect ending tax breaks for private schools to have a significant impact on the state sector.”