Richard Tice MP on School Fees VAT, BBC OFCOM Bias, Michel Barnier the French PM, European Politics and Suella Braverman potentially defecting to Reform UK.

Welcome back the deputy leader of Reform UK and the MP for Boston and Skegness Richard Tice joins me in the studio, good morning. Good morning, lovely to be with you.

You’ve got a bee in your Bonnet about this, VAT on private school fees, you want to launch, are you launching a legal action? So, I indicated back in May that this ridiculous policy would end up in the courts and sure enough that’s where it’s heading, quite rightly by some very significant parent groups that are emerging and, in the papers, today it’s confirmed the first case of what will be many cases has written to the Chancellor, to the treasury and this is a parent who has an autistic child and the issue with SEND children is really significant.

There are about 110,000 special needs children, special education needs children who are in Independent Schools of whom about 100,000 don’t get any educational Health and Care plan therefore they’re not exempt from this VAT policy. I suspect half of them are going to have to go back into the state system. There aren’t the places in the state system which means these children, Bridget Philipson insists there are 650,000, this is nonsense, I have hundreds of people emailing me saying she is, I’m afraid she’s not telling the truth. I’ve got loads of people emailing me saying the state school locally has said they haven’t got any room in the class sizes, there’s no room for SEND for special education needs children this is a catastrophe waiting to happen and I think the government is going to be tied up in knots with legal cases, it’s discriminatory, it’s damaging the education of those children. What basis are they planning to sue then, discrimination?

State Schools Overwhelmed with Applications

It’s a breach of their human rights and the ability to have a proper education because there aren’t the special education needs places in the state system, they’re saying we can’t accommodate you which means that you have to go into a mainstream school which means the education of your child is clearly damaged okay and that’s very serious breach of Human Rights Act case or a ECHR thing. It’ll end up at the ECHR, well there’s a wonderful irony. If you can’t beat them join them, wouldn’t it be marvellous, you like it when it’s convenient to your cause. So does everybody Camilla, even you. But the irony, never had recourse to apply for the ECHR potentially ruling that it’s discriminatory and then Starmer having to abide by the ECHR that he loves so much that’s where this could well go, there’s many other elements of discrimination this one will run and run. You’re not just saying this because you’re a private school boy with kids at private schools, are you?

I’m saying this because education is the fundamental, it’s the most important human right, it’s the original charitable purpose and the discrimination element of it, how can you discriminate to against children from 7 to 18 but then the elitist universities they’re not going to have VAT put on their fees? That’s discriminatory too, I promise you this is going to run and run in the courts we just had Lucy Fraser in the studio did you manage to catch that when you were?

I did, I just thought it was interesting what she was saying about OFCOM and BBC bias yes I mean it is view well my view is that OFCOM frankly is not fit for purpose and its treatment of other channels such as GB News compared to the way that it sort of, that it mollycoddles the BBC and you highlighted it there the unfairness of the system as Lucy said that the BBC can basically self-regulate itself on behalf of OFCOM and so, surprise, surprise it behaves as it does.

OFCOM Fairness Called into Question

We all knew that it was clearly biased in its reporting of the horrific war in the Middle East and I think that OFCOM has got some serious questions to answer at the very least OFCOM should directly respond to complaints about the BBC and you the way they treat GB News and people like’s Talk TV and this as a journalist rather than a politician. You know OFCOM has expressed concerns that people like you and people like Nigel might come on a channel and start campaigning? But they didn’t express any concerns about David Lammy for example a Labour MP on LBC, no longer yeah but, if you’re going to be a regulator you’ve got to deal with a fair and just and equal hand. They patently haven’t done that all right.

We need to get through quite a few questions in not very much time, you know the drill. Michel Barnier becoming French PM you’re delighted about that Richard? Honestly, I mean just extraordinary what would you think that’s going to make life difficult for Reform particularly? No, it’ll make I tell you who it’ll make life difficult for Kier Starmer who wants to cosy up to the EU Michel Barnier will be as difficult and demanding as he was under the Conservative government and I think Starmer will find that if he wants to reset the relationship not that it needs resetting by the way, then I think he’ll find that he’s going to have, he’ll be literally legged over on anything he wants and the risk is that we end up with freedom of movement through the back door and this idea that hr wants freedom of movement for young people up to 30 that was the whole freedom of movement program that means basically opening the doors to more mass immigration which suppresses British wages.

European Politics

Are you familiar with these AFD co-leaders Tino Chrupalla  and Alice Weidel who have risen up in Germany being described as the far right? I mean, I’m not familiar with them at all, but the reality is that if you don’t deliver for your people as a political class and you lie about important things like immigration, you pretend it’s not issue, you say all will be fine and actually it’s not and it suppresses wages, don’t be surprised if people then vote for someone else and that’s the reason that they so many 4.1 million people voted for Reform UK because they realize we’re getting poorer, our quality of life is getting worse.

Quick word on the Tory leadership race. If a righty ends up leading the Tory party and actually restores it to its Thatcherite right roots somebody like Kemi Badenoch arguably Robert Jenrich he’s been on a journey from remainer to apparently hard right Eurosceptic. He might as well carry on the journey to Reform UK! Well, he could do that but isn’t that problematic for you and Nigel because if you are up against a righty a proper not throated righty at the Helm of the conservatives, what’s the point in voting Reform UK?

Will Suella Braverman Defect to Reform UK?

The reality is you can’t trust a word they say I mean, Kemi Badenoch this week in an article she wrote sort of trying to be the tough person, the real tough person on what China do. You mean she was talking tough on China and net zero. Two months ago, she wasn’t saying any of this stuff, well she did rail against a few things, no she didn’t rail against China she didn’t rant against Net Zero all of a sudden, because of what Reform is standing for she’s basically coming to our turf, you can’t trust what these people say, anyone else coming to your turf? There is talk about Suella Braverman defecting, have you had conversations with the former Home Secretary?

As you well know, I don’t give a running commentary on any discussions, no I won’t, I’m not going to because I want people, I want people, I want people to trust us. Are you having conservative talks? I don’t comment on any, you love all sorts of things, I enjoy meeting and talking to the Conservatives in and around the camp trying to get them in the Reform Camp, I’m not giving a running commentary on chats we have in and around the chamber but they’re very friendly beings. Lovely to see you, love to Boston and Skegness. Coming up next we’re going to be speaking to the former conservative party Treasurer and peer Lord Farmer he’s got some interesting things to say about the arms embargo to Israel and the importance of family, stay tuned for that.