‘Labour’s honeymoon will be short-lived’: teachers’

Daniel Kebede, leader of the NEU, says members’ morale is at an all-time low and that Starmer must signal a radical change in policy

Labour must be more ambitious on education if Keir Starmer, as prime minister, is to avoid teachers going on strike as early as this autumn, the leader of the UK’s biggest education union has said, warning that any post-election honeymoon could be short-lived.

Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said goodwill towards a new Labour government would swiftly evaporate without a “radical shift” in policy direction and a loosening of the purse strings by Rachel Reeves, should she become chancellor next month.