Wednesday 8 Teves – Government taken to court as school fees vat kicks in – 3,000 IDF draft orders are sent out to Haredim

Accordinh to Hamodia (www.hamodia.co.uk click to subscribe) The removal of the exemption of private school fees from VAT, with potentially catastrophic effects on chareidi schools, came into force on 1st January 2025. The policy was a Labour Party manifesto pledge, and the new government wasted no time putting it into action in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget at the end of October.

The Chancellor claims that the policy will raise nearly £2billion a year within five years which will be ploughed back into the state school system, including funding 6,500 new teachers. However, the Independent Schools Council (ISC) says that this figure is an “estimate, not a fact.” The chief executive of the ISC Julie Robinson said on Sunday that, “The negative effects of this unprecedented tax on education will be felt by families and children across state and independent schools.” She also suggested that the policy “could cost the treasury money and would damage state education.” This was echoed by the Conservative Party which has described this move as a “vindictive policy that will worsen the education of every single child, regardless of the school they are educated in.”

There are fears that many parents will not be able to pay the extra money in fees, leaving schools, already hit by rises in National Insurance contributions, and the removal of charitable business rate relief, struggling to find the money to pay their VAT bill to the government. It has been reported that some small schools have already warned parents that they will be closing.

However, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said that “very few families” would be priced out of schools and suggested that the policy had the support of middle-class parents, who cannot afford school fees and would like to see improvements made to the state school system. Ms. Phillipson said that the VAT exemption was a “luxury we cannot afford”, seemingly ignoring the fact that parents who send their children to private schools are saving the state the cost of educating them, as well as paying school fees out of taxed income.

A spokesperson for the Conservative party said, “The idea that middle-class parents support this bitter policy is simply not true.

“Labour’s decision to tax education will mean thousands of hardworking parents will no longer be able to afford to send their children, including those with SEND [special educational needs and disabilities], to private school.”

The chareidi sector will potentially be very badly affected, as many parents cannot afford to pay full fees or parental contributions even without VAT. Chinuch UK is participating in the legal case being brought against the Government by the ISC. Some two weeks ago, the case was submitted by six families, one of which is a chareidi family, claiming that the policy breaches their human rights with respect to educating their children. Chinuch UK has written one of the two witness statements submitted to the court to support the claim.

Motty Pinter of Chinuch UK told Hamodia, “We had never wanted to take the Government to court, but after discussions with their representatives both before and after the General Election, it became clear to us that in order to protect our children’s education and our school system, it will be necessary to do so.”

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A number of NHS trusts across England have declared critical incidents as flu cases spike.

The Royal Liverpool University Hospital declared a critical incident due to “exceptionally high” demand on A&E and patients being admitted to wards.

It said there had been a spike in people with respiratory illnesses going to emergency departments in recent weeks, with NHS data showing the number of people in England’s hospitals with flu quadrupled in the last month.

Several other NHS trusts later declared critical incidents, with one saying it had seen “high numbers of older patients with respiratory problems exacerbated by the cold weather”.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust declared critical incidents on Tuesday morning, followed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in the afternoon.

A state of emergency has been declared by the governor of California as wildfires, fuelled by high winds, sweep through the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Firefighters are battling the fast-moving blaze which is sweeping an exclusive LA hillside dotted with celebrity homes.

Posting on X, Governor Gavin Newsome said: “I’ve proclaimed a state of emergency to support the communities impacted by the #PalisadesFire.

“Southern California residents: stay vigilant, take all necessary precautions, and follow local emergency guidance.”

Officials say the wildfire is being fanned by “life-threatening” and “destructive” winds hitting southern California.

Around 30,000 residents have been ordered to leave because of the fire, which is tearing through the foothills of the upmarket Pacific Palisades, located between Santa Monica and Malibu.

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An IDF soldier was killed on Tuesday fighting in Gaza, as the military announced it was pulling a brigade from the northern Strip in order to prepare for future operations.

The slain soldier was named as Staff Sgt. Ido Samiach, 20, a team sergeant in the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Ganei Tikva, killed in northern Gaza.

The previous day, two other soldiers — Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, and Maj. Dvir Zion Revah, 28 — were killed fighting in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun. The latest death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 398.

IDF strikes terrorists in Khan Yunis who took part in October 7th massacre

IAF conducts several IDF and ISA intelligence-based strikes on a number of terrorists who took part in the murderous October 7th massacre in Israeli territory.

The IAF on Tuesday evening conducted several IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence-based strikes on a number of terrorists who took part in the murderous October 7th massacre in Israeli territory in the area of Khan Yunis.

The IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement that, prior to the strikes, numerous steps were taken to minimize the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, while exploiting civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields for terrorist activity,” the statement said.

The Hind Rajab Foundation filed a legal complaint Tuesday against the soldier wanted in Brazil who fled to Argentina, following a federal court’s investigation order regarding suspected involvement in murder and crimes against humanity.

Additionally, it was revealed Tuesday that another war crimes complaint, including charges of crimes against humanity and genocide, was filed last week in Argentina against a second Israeli soldier, a Givati Brigade fighter. They indicate they have evidence to support these claims.

Israelis are bracing for unrest after the army sent draft orders on Sunday to 3,000 Haredi men. A court-mandated move, it is, to date, the most concrete challenge to the decades-long exemption of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service.

“We’re not worried,” one yeshiva student, Uriah, 17, from Haifah His classmate, Michael Gutmann, added: “They can’t forcibly conscript us.

Another chardie Bachur said we will listen to our Gedolim; whatever they say, we will do. 

Yanki from Bnei Brak said The biggest problem is in the army for a Chardei person is that whoever goes to the army, some of them go off the derech.

The army is not built for the Haredim. And even if there were a Haredi soldier in the army, they would never let him make a higher rank than a non-Haredi soldier, so it’s all politics.

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