Talking to teachers on the picket line outside Orleans Park School, it was not merely the headline payrise that the government proposed – though this was less than the sum awarded to Welsh teachers and significantly below the settlement in Scotland –  that was the problem. A bigger issue was the fact that the money would have to come from existing budgets – meaning that these payrises could only be achieved by futher denuding school resources.

“It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said one teacher. “We shouldn’t have to choose between having properly paid teachers and properly funded schools.”

Members of the Twickenham CLP were on the picket line to support our striking teachers. We would like to draw the attention of Gillian Keegan – and any other Tory spokesperson repeating the nonsensical claim that big public sector payrises will fuel inflation  – to this blog from the London School of Economics which says, “There is no evidence that [public sector] wage increases are producing inflation. In effect, the wage-price spiral does not exist for public sector pay.”

Our message to the government is simple: get round the negotiating table and #payup.