03 February 2023 , 02:22
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The Government was urged to give teachers 'the pay rise we deserve' on BBC Question Time last night after a historic national walkout earlier this week.
The audience member was one of several people in the studio to take Number 10's record to task on Thursday evening's episode of the long-running discussion show, which was broadcast from Glasgow.
Hosted by Fiona Bruce, the panel included Tory Under-Secretary of State for Scotland John Lamont MP, Jenny Gilruth MSP from the SNP, Labour's Ian Murray MP and journalists India Willoughby and Ella Whelan.
At the top of the agenda was the UK Government's refusal to agree to a pay increase of 10% for teachers in the lead-up to this week's strike - a topic which provoked strong reactions from many.
Around 23,400 schools were thought to have been affected when tens of thousands of teachers staged a walkout across the UK on Wednesday, with more days of action planned in different parts of the country until the middle of next month.
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Education was a key topic of discussion following mass teacher walkouts earlier this week (BBC)Mr Lamont laid the blame for the disruption firmly at the door of the teaching unions, saying he was "disappointed" in the decision to strike and was "concerned" about the impact on children.
Explaining the government's refusal to meet their demands for a 10% increase, he said: "The UK government... have a very important balancing act to do when it comes to delivering that pay rise whilst recognising we are responsible for taxpayers money.
"By giving excessive pay rises it simply increases that inflationary pressure"
Tory MP John Lamont said "excessive pay rises" could lead to inflationary pressure (BBC)But his suggestion that union officials were causing the problems came under fire from one man in the audience, who pointed out that teachers themselves had voted to take the action and accused the Government of "bashing" trade unions.
Shortly afterwards a teacher made his own plea for better conditions for teachers and children, saying: "You have to remember that our working conditions are your children's learning conditions.
"If you want to attract the best teachers to our profession, then you have to give us what we deserve - and we deserve a fair pay rise."
The Scottish Government also came in for criticism from a different teacher in the audience, who claimed no progress had been made north of the border on the 10% asked for by teachers' unions after they rejected a 5% rise back in November.
"What else can we do now when no-one will negotiate with us?", she said.
Later parts of the discussion saw the focus shift to to ongoing issues elsewhere in the public sector, with one person suggesting the 10% figure should be rolled out across the board, and another highlighting cuts to council budgets.