The Telegraph’s sob story about a family having to cut down on their five holidays to pay school fees turned out to be fake – must do better
An article in (of course) the Telegraph, about ‘investment banker Al Moy’ and his financial struggle after Labour introduced VAT on school fees, found people’s sympathy reserves bone dry.
The now-deleted piece detailed how the father of three has had to cut down on his five yearly holidays in order to keep paying the fees for his two elder children, despite a combined income with his banker wife, Alexandra, of £345,000.
Rather than a few travelling holidays in the US, from a base in the Hamptons, freelance journalist Georgina Fuller apparently claimed that the Moy family are having to make do with just one long-haul trip, plus a few vacations in Europe. Oh, the humanity!
Eyebrows were raised almost as high as those pesky, holiday-stealing school fees.
Beyond actual parody. pic.twitter.com/7sElkd0RbU
— Otto English (@Otto_English) May 25, 2025
‘We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t afford to go on five holidays’
This is a GENUINE article published just now in The Telegraph. https://t.co/2sZGd4CeeK
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) May 25, 2025
I'd never have put VAT on private school fees if I'd known it would lead to some families struggling to afford five holidays a year. pic.twitter.com/kqRtNSHc8C
— Parody Keir Starmer (@Parody_PM) May 25, 2025
If you were thinking that the ‘five holidays’ story was a bit much, even for the Telegraph, you’d be spot on. It looks as though they either faked it, were pranked, or let AI have a go at writing a Telegraph-style story.
Journalist Ian Fraser raised the alarm on Bluesky.
He brought the receipts.
Well, that’s awkward. Bluesky users weighed in.
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New game just dropped.
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H/T Ian Fraser Image Freepik