The Education Secretary Gillian Keegan flaunts her £10,000 Rolex watch as she tells striking teachers to be ‘realistic’ with their pay demands on a day of industrial action bringing the UK to a halt
- Around 85 per cent of schools will be either fully or partially closed by strikes
- Ms Keegan appeared to be wearing her expensive watch as she toured studios
- It was a gift from her husband, she has accused critics of ‘inverted snobbery’
Minister Gillian Keegan today urged striking teachers to be ‘realistic’ with their pay demands – while again wearing her £10,000 Rolex watch.
The Education Secretary took to the airwaves this morning as thousands of school staff walked out, causing a major headache for working parents.
Around 85 per cent of schools will be either fully or partially closed by strike action on Wednesday, the general secretary of the National Education Union has said.
Ms Keegan appeared to be wearing her expensive watch – a gift from her husband – as she toured television and radio studios.
The Merseyside-born Tory, who grew up in a working class family and left school at 16, has previously accused critics of her jewellery of ‘inverted snobbery’.
Discussing the strikes today she said she expects most schools will open on Wednesday despite the strike by teachers.
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘What is not realistic is for us to be looking at inflation or inflation-busting pay rises. We cannot risk fuelling inflation with inflation-busting pay rises. We have to look after everybody in the economy.’
The Education Secretary took to the airwaves this morning as thousands of school staff walked out, causing a major headache for working parents.
The £10,000 Rolex Lady-Datejust 31 Everose that Ms Keegan is thought to own.
In December Ms Keegan discussed criticism she faced over the watch on LBC radio.
She stressed the watch was a 50th birthday present from her husband and her family and acknowledged she was ‘very lucky’ to own it.
‘I guess I’m supposed to never have made anything of myself, never have made any money, stayed in Knowsley,’ she added.
‘I don’t know. It’s like an inverted snobbery or something.’
Britain is back in a mini-lockdown today as 500,000 public sector workers including 300,000 teachers went on strike on ‘Walkout Wednesday’.
More than seven million children – many of whom had their education badly disrupted during the pandemic – face missing lessons today on the biggest day of strikes for over a decade.
An estimated 85 per cent of English and Welsh state schools – up to 23,000 in all – are expected to close their doors to some or all of their pupils, who will be forced to stay at home with their striking teachers not setting them work.
Speaking outside Bishop Thomas Grant School in Streatham, south London, Dr Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the National Education Union, told the BBC striking teachers have received ‘many’ messages of support from parents.
‘We are very sorry that parents have been so inconvenienced by this strike action,’ she said.
‘We know that for many of them it will be very difficult to get childcare.
‘But we’re also receiving many more messages from parents who say ”Well, something has to be done, my child is being taught by supply teacher after supply teacher”.’
The striking teachers will join 100,000 civil servants, 70,000 university staff and thousands of train drivers and border force staff in staging industrial action.
A general strike in all but name, it is expected to cost the economy £200million and amount to a ‘mini-lockdown’, with 500,000 workers in total walking off the job and millions of people forced to work from home.
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