Most schools in Hammersmith and Fulham remained open today but there was some disruption due to a strike called by the National Union of Teachers.

The Schools Minister Nick Gibb says:

“The industrial action by the NUT is pointless but it is far from inconsequential – it disrupts children’s education, it inconveniences parents and it damages the profession’s reputation in the eyes of the public.

“But because of the dedication of the vast majority of teachers and head teachers, our analysis shows that seven out of eight schools are refusing to close.”

“Our school workforce is, and must remain, a respected profession suitable for the 21st century, but this action is seeking to take the profession back, in public perception, to the tired and dated disputes of the 20th century.”

Just 24.5 per cent of NUT members took part in the ballot – less than ten per cent of the total teacher workforce.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council has failed to condemn the strike action which is disrupting the education of some of the borough’s children – and causing problems and expense for many of their parents.

What was even more disappointing was to see striking teachers from the borough marching this morning waving placards from the Socialist Workers Party. This is a totalitarian organisation dedicated to the overthrow of Parliamentary democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and free enterprise.

Nick Cohen has written:

“Anna Chen saw the misogyny up close. She stopped working as a comic and poet in the early 2000s to devote every waking hour slaving for the Socialist Alliance, Stop the War and other SWP front organisations. “Because the revolution comes first, human beings are just disposable,” she told me. “I was struck by how sexless and ugly the leading men in the SWP were. But they always had women. If you slept with one of them, they promoted you. It was as basic as that.”

Of course not all every teacher picking up a SWP placard will be a Communist. But for them to casually parade arounds the streets of London advertising this vile, extremist sect shows poor judgment.