I recently received a letter from Reading West MP Alok Sharma after I had emailed him as part of the NASUWT campaign on school funding. There appears to be a big disparity between Alok’s words and his actions, so I thought I’d have a go at translating.
He starts by saying “I am enormously grateful for the work they do to ensure children have the best chance to succeed in life”. What he probably meant was, I’ve consistently voted to cut your pension. Mine’s gone up.
On teachers pay he says “The recommendations are consistent with the Governments 1% public sector pay policy”. What he probably meant was, I’ve consistently voted to cut teachers wages. Mine have gone up.
Alok says he wants fair public sector wages “while balancing this with being fair to other taxpayers”. What he probably meant was, we spent £1bn to cling on to power, cut taxes for the richest and most powerful.
On teacher numbers Alok says”Im encouraged that there are more teachers in our schools than ever before”. By this point I think Alok had just given up…..