Alexander, who recently headed up a star-studded OD performance of Handel's Messiah at Durham Cathedral in aid of post choristership bursaries at Durham School, is a passionate advocate for music in Schools. 

In yesterday's Telegraph, Alexander spoke to Ed Cumming about his new book, and his frustration with the introduction of VAT on fees. 

All four of Armstrong's boys are at private school; the only time his bonhomie cracks is when Keir Starmer's VAT policy comes up. "I'm feeling really, really angry about that, and extremely poor," he says. "In our case, private school is the only place available for our children to learn music. Our 10-year-old has special educational needs, he couldn't survive in the state system. We have chosen that not because we're evil, and not because we want to buy a head-start for our children, but we want them to have as good an education as we can get. 

"There's a real anger towards private schools from some quarters and I find that so antithetical to everything I believe about society. There was something really vituperative about [Starmer] bringing it in in the middle of the school year. I loathe tribal politics. I'm allergic to it from the Right and scared of it from the Left. It felt really unpleasant and nasty." 

Read the full article in the Telegraph https://independentschoolscouncil.cmail20.com/t/t-l-skuhhkt-yktdnjdiy-r/