The Green Party\u2019s surging popularity among teachers should be a \u201cwake-up call\u201d to Labour, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) has warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel Kebede told a press briefing that the Greens and its leader Zack Polanski \u201calign very closely with the education policies\u201d of the teachers\u2019 union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Greens, who have five MPs, \u201care the only party at the minute\u2026that are advocating for an end to austerity in schools and education\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kebede also praised its stance on Ofsted and free school meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Greens\u2019 2024 manifesto pledged \u00a38bn more for schools, including a \u00a32bn pay uplift for teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also pledged to end \u201chigh-stakes\u201d pupil testing, scrap Ofsted and give all pupils free lunches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polanski will speak at the NEU\u2019s annual conference later this month.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kebede said the union is \u201cvery proud\u201d to be politically independent, but added: \u201cWe will work with politicians, organisations, NGOs, who align with our policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said Polanski is clearly \u201cthe most favoured politician amongst our members at the moment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I was the Labour government, I would certainly treat this as a bit of a wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEU polling in December found support for Labour had fallen by 70 per cent since the general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among more than 3,700 members polled, 60 per cent said they voted Labour in July 2024. Yet just 18 per cent said they would vote Labour again if a snap election was held now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Green Party topped popularity rankings, with support rising from 10 to 23 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liberal Democrat support was at 7 per cent, Conservatives at 4 per cent and Reform UK at 6 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kebede told journalists the NEU has \u201creal, broad concern around what a Reform government would mean for education,\u201d should Nigel Farage\u2019s party win the next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He believes Reform would \u201cnot only…bring back hyper-austerity in public services, including education, they will make education a real hostile place for children who are LGBT, black, migrant, refugee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NEU has previously described Reform as \u201cfar-right\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey work contrary as a political organisation to the views of our union and our profession more broadly,\u201d said Kebede.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suella Braverman MP, Reform\u2019s new education spokesperson, would not be a \u201cpositive force for education\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Braverman responded: \u201cThese comments show everything that is wrong with our education system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She accused unions of \u201cdriving down standards and failing teachers, parents, and children by supporting a dumbing-down of the curriculum and promoting sexualised content in our schools\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Reform UK doesn\u2019t care about your skin colour, your gender, or your religion. We want a world-class education system that is built on love of our country, excellence and high standards, not ridiculous DEI policies that are poisoning the minds of young people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A string of motions will be voted on at the NEU\u2019s Brighton conference on March 30. Concerns over the rise of the right and SEND reform<\/a> look set to be key themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kebede warned over the recent white paper: \u201cYou can\u2019t have inclusion done on the cheap.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Daniel Kebede also warns Reform UK would ‘make education a real hostile place for children who are LGBT, black, migrant, refugee’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":314902,"featured_media":243600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[54],"post-theme":[2396],"class_list":["post-243597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-politics","post-theme-politics"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tLabour support plunges<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Hyper-austerity\u2019 with Reform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n