Tory rebels threaten to derail school cash revamp

TORY MPs warned Theresa May last night they would rebel against a school funding shakeup if she didn’t amend it.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told the Prime Minister and Education Secretary Justine Greening that backbenchers would block the proposed changes.

Every school in England faces a real-terms cut over the next three years under the funding formula, which is out for public consultation until Wednesday.

Mr Clifton-Brown warned that heads would have to sack teachers and standards would slip, with schools in London particularly badly hit. He said:

‘They will have difficulty getting it through the House. They’ll have to alter it.’

Asked on Radio 4’s Today programme whether he was telling the Government, ‘U-turn or you’ll lose’, he said: ‘Exactly.’

Mr Clifton-Brown said he hadn’t voted against his party on major policies in 25 years, but the shake-up was unfair.

Fellow Tory Ben Howlett said he would vote against it unless the Government avoided cutting funds to the poorest areas.

A No 10 spokesman said the existing funding formula was ‘unfair and outdated’.

‘U-turn or you’ll lose’