Education Secretary Gillian Keegan risks a fresh row with unions as she doubles down on her claim teachers are among ‘top earners’ across Britain
- Gillian Keegan doubles down on her claim that teachers are among ‘top earners’
- Education Secretary previously faced a backlash from trade union leaders
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has risked a fresh row with unions after she doubled down on her claim that teachers are among the ‘top earners’ across Britain.
The Cabinet minister is facing the prospect of a new round of strikes by teachers over the coming weeks in their dispute over pay.
Ms Keegan tonight used a TV interview to insist she would not budge from her rejection of inflation-busting pay rises.
She also confirmed the Government is considering whether to toughen up strike laws to force school staff to tell their headteachers if they plan to join walkouts.
The Education Secretary threatened to further infuriate unions by refusing to back away from her belief that teachers are well-paid in relation to other jobs.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has risked a fresh row with unions after she doubled down on her claim that teachers are among the ‘top earners’ across Britain
The Government is facing the prospect of a new round of strikes by teachers over the coming weeks in their dispute over pay
Ms Keegan previously faced a backlash from union leaders currently organising strikes when she insisted teachers were ‘probably within the top 10 per cent of earners in some parts of the country’.
In an interview with ITV News this evening, she defended her claim and argued that when a teacher’s ‘whole package’ is considered – including pensions – those outside of London are among the ‘top earners’.
‘If you look at all of that, you will find that teachers around the country, outside of London in particular, will be in the top earners,’ she said.
Ms Keegan added that when she grew up in Knowsley, Merseyside, teachers were seen as earning ‘reasonably well for the area’.
When she first made the claim about teachers being financially better off than others, the Education Secretary pointed to the example of her 23-year-old cousin who had just started teaching on £28,000 a year while living at home with her parents.
Ms Keegan revealed tonight that her cousin is a National Education Union rep who told her she had decided to strike.
‘I said to her, look, it’s your own choice but make sure you tell your head because I couldn’t believe it that some teachers didn’t tell the heads,’ she said.
The Education Secretary was previously challenged over her claims about teachers’ pay by being told that some were having to take on second or third jobs because they cannot make ends meet amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Keegan, who owns properties in London, France and Spain, also provoked a controversy when she suggested nurses ‘usually’ only use foodbanks if they have been dumped or their boiler has broken.
She was accused of a ‘staggering lack of empathy’ for those remarks, which she made while wearing a Rolex watch estimated to be worth £10,000.
Ms Keegan has since hit out at ‘inverted snobbery’ for the focus on her expensive wristwear when she appears on broadcast interviews.
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