I suppose
@icowden has to choose between some really duff hills to die on. Will it be "shady billionaires owning political parties and picking their candidates is OK, actually", or "paying private school fees bigger than most people's annual income to buy my kids an advantage makes me an oppressed minority".
How about paying private school fees bigger than most people's annual income to ensure my kids have a fair education due to massive failure by previous governments to ensure that there are enough settings suitable for children with additional needs?
I'd happily have sent my kids to state school. One is dyslexic, was being massively failed by her state primary and needs additional support and small class sizes. The other is Type 1 diabetic and has acute anxiety requiring small class sizes, an on-site Nurse and additional counselling and pastoral care.
You can fark right off with your "buying my kids an advantage" shoot. I'm part of the around 20% of parents who have re-mortgaged and sacrificed precisely because there are no suitable schools. I know children who were withdrawn from secondary and home-schooled before moving to private school where their anxiety, eating disorders, autism etc could actually be managed in a caring and adequate environment. Those are the parents affected by the VAT hike. The ones that have bursaries or scholarships, a huge mortgage and a debt to the bank of mum and dad, or granny and grandad.
Maybe we could spend some money on providing adequate schooling rather than whinging about people "buying an advantage". Sure there are parents who pay for their kids to be flown from the school ski trip to their resort in val d'whatever, and kids who have home cinemas, gyms etc. Their parents couldn't give a monkeys about VAT being charged. That's where Starmer and the Labour party are completely blinded by their own ideology.
I chose not to vote Tory because the Conservative party isn't any more. It's a far right party being led by ever more demented politicians. Who would I like to be in power? A coalition between the Greens and LibDems I think. They are far more sensible than either of the two mainstream parties, but they don't have a cat in hells chance of every being in charge as the system is rigged against them.
Sure, it's very principled of the Greens not to accept donations, gifts and what have you. That's why they have 4 mps. You can't change the system until you are in charge of it.