Labour Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has been accused of exaggerating her claims of a poverty-stricken childhood by a former neighbour. Tracey Morgan, 61, who has lived near the Phillipson family home in Washington, Tyne and Wear since 1989, told the Mail on Sunday that the family appeared 'comfortable' and 'not poor'.
Neighbours dispute poverty narrative
Morgan recalled: 'The upstairs rooms had electric bar heaters, and downstairs rooms had radiators heated by back boilers. I remember seeing Clare (Ms Phillipson's mum) and her daughter, I thought they looked comfortable, and not poor.' Another neighbour, who spoke anonymously, dismissed the minister's claims as 'fabricated', adding: 'These are old houses, but as long as I've lived here it's been fine.'
Ms Phillipson, 42, has previously described her upbringing in a terraced property bought under Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme in 1990. She told Times Radio the house was in a 'terrible state' with no heating upstairs and rotten windows, and has stated 'we had it hard'. She has also called herself 'incredibly fortunate' to have become an MP.
Political backlash over private school VAT
Last month, Ms Phillipson clashed with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions over Labour's decision to remove VAT relief for private schools. Mrs Badenoch accused Ms Phillipson of being a 'spiteful class warrior' and claimed the policy had reduced teacher numbers. Sir Keir Starmer defended Ms Phillipson, describing her as someone who 'grew up in poverty' and an 'incredible story of social mobility'.
After the exchange, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall and Ms Phillipson confronted Mrs Badenoch in the division lobby. A Tory source said Mrs Badenoch told Ms Phillipson: 'I'll fight you all the way, you're destroying children's lives.' Ms Phillipson later tweeted: 'Kemi lost her head at PMQs – and afterwards too. I wonder what it is about a working class woman driving record investment in state schools by ending private schools’ tax breaks that the Tories hate so much.'
Source defends Phillipson
A source close to Ms Phillipson dismissed the neighbour's claims as 'mud slinging' motivated by dislike of her politics. 'Claims by apparent neighbours as to the state of their homes in the 90s have no bearing on the state of Bridget’s mum’s home in the 1980s,' the source said. 'She is proud to be in a government lifting over half a million children out of poverty and these ridiculous attacks won’t change that.'
Ms Phillipson's family previously faced scrutiny after it was reported they made a 900% profit selling their council house, which she described as a 'manufactured smear'.
