At first, I assumed it would be a one off. I’m chatting about nothing in particular with a friend at a teacher conference when, having checked that no one else was in earshot, she blurted out: ‘Look, don’t tell anyone, but I don’t think I can vote Labour any more. Their education stuff… it’s just crazy. It’ll take us back to the bad old days. I might even have to vote Tory.’
Like a priest in a confessional, I assured her that I would of course not breathe a word to anyone about her sin of Tory-thinking. We chatted some more, both regretting Labour’s takeover by Bad Ideas and Bad People, and that was that. It felt as though it had been a cathartic experience for her, and I assumed nothing more would come of it.
Except since then I have had similar experiences with at least a dozen left-leaning teachers. We’ll be chatting away about the importance of a good curriculum or the quality of coffee in the staffroom, and then somehow they’ve brought up the sheer madness of Labour education policy.
As you’d expect, the crunch point varies from person to person.
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