Conservative conference: Gove accuses teaching unions of ‘holding back' schools

In his keynote speech to his party's conference, Michael Gove accused union general secretaries of bigotry and said industrial action was affecting his ability to make improvements to the sector.

Gove said he wanted to celebrate success in education, but that when he had singled out well-performing schools, union members had reacted negatively.

“I’ve been taken aside by union general secretaries who have said: ‘Please don’t dare single out these very successful schools, it makes the others feel uncomfortable.’ How can we succeed as a country when every time we find success and we celebrate it, there are those that say ‘no’?” he said.

“What I feel uncomfortable about is the soft bigotry of low expectations that lead so many to believe that so many schools can’t be as good as the best schools. I’m determined to fight that bigotry wherever I encounter it.”

Gove described how industrial action was making it difficult for him to make teaching “a more respected profession in the country”, urging unions: “Don’t let your ideology hold back our children.”

Teaching unions reacted to the speech by defending their actions. The NASUWT accused the Education Secretary of “inciting schools to break the law and flout teachers' terms and conditions”.