Blair: Tory school vouchers to cost £2bn

Tony Blair sparked a bitter row with the Conservatives as he accused Michael Howard of planning to take £2bn out of state schools by funding private education for thousands of pupils. Mr Blair launched an outspoken attack on the Tories' proposals for school vouchers, branding them "more extreme than anything in the Thatcher years".

Tony Blair sparked a bitter row with the Conservatives as he accused Michael Howard of planning to take £2bn out of state schools by funding private education for thousands of pupils. Mr Blair launched an outspoken attack on the Tories' proposals for school vouchers, branding them "more extreme than anything in the Thatcher years".

Conservatives immediately hit back, accusing Mr Blair of lying by exaggerating claims about the potential cost of the scheme. They insisted the cost of the policy would be "insignificant".

Under the Tories' plans, pupils would be offered a voucher that could be spent in state or private schools, so long as they did not charge more than the £5,500 average cost of state education. The policy was drawn up to encourage the development of a new string of privately run state funded schools. Labour said the scheme would take up to £2bn out of the state system because of the "dead-weight cost" of subsidising fees of thousands of children being taught in private schools.

Mr Blair launched his attack in a speech on the future of education. He said the Tories were revising the old assisted places scheme, under which pupils from poorer backgrounds could win state-subsidised places at independent schools.

Mr Blair said: "The assisted places scheme, even in its final expanded form, took £140m out of the education budget, whereas the 'pupils' passport' doesn't have a cap and is estimated by one of its architects to take about £2bn out of the state system - 15 times as much as the assisted places scheme, half of it just to pay for children who already attend private schools.

"So what have the Tories learnt since 1997? To take their most derided policy from before 1997, and make it 15 times more damaging."

Mr Blair also attacked "chaotic" Conservative plans to give individual schools freedom over admissions, and lambasted the party for proposing only to award top exam grades to a fixed proportion of pupils each year.

Tim Collins, the shadow Education Secretary, said: "Mr Blair has turned his back on any responsible debate over education. His allegation that our plans will mean a £2bn subsidy for private schools is a complete lie. No school receiving state funding under the Right to Choose will be allowed to charge fees to parents."

A Conservative spokesman insisted the cost of the scheme would be "insignificant" beside the £50bn annual schools budget, but declined to give a figure.

Labour pointed to the 717 independent schools that charge fees lower than £5,500 which would be subsidised by the Tory voucher scheme. But officials were unable to say how many pupils might be affected.

Labour also pointed to a 2003 report quoting Mr Collins as putting a £2bn price tag on the scheme.

The Liberal Democrats' leader, Charles Kennedy, highlighted plans to offer a "pupil's guarantee", including a maximum class size of 20 in infant schools and 25 in junior schools. He also outlined plans to refurbish schools, slim down national tests and introduce a training programme to ensure core secondary school subjects are taught by specialist teachers.

He said Tory plans to scrap local education authorities and co-ordinated admissions programmes would create a "chaotic free- for-all" where schools would choose pupils rather than parents choosing schools.