Gillian Keegan’s worst gaffes as Tory says she’d punch impolite Ofsted inspectors

Gaffe-prone Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is again within the headlines after she would have “probably punched” impolite Ofsted inspectors.

The Cabinet minister instructed an viewers of headteachers in Liverpool that she had been “shocked” by what she had heard concerning the conduct of inspectors on a latest college go to – and mentioned she might need taken drastic motion.

Speaking throughout a Q&A on the Association of School and College Leaders annual convention, she mentioned: “I thought God if I had met these people, I would probably have punched them. They were really rude.” She added: “I mean you expect people to be rude to you when you’re a politician, you kind of sign up for that. But when you are kind of trying to run a school and educate children and change lives, you don’t expect somebody to come in and not be respectful.”

Her feedback have been instantly criticised by Unison, who accused her of “making light of violence in schools”.

It’s not the primary time the outspoken training chief, who infamously was caught on digital camera suggesting she needs to be praised for doing a “f***ing good job” within the dodgy concrete scandal, has made the information since taking up on the Department for Education. Here are simply a few of her gaffes.

Kids choose studying in momentary lecture rooms

Thousands of scholars will likely be caught in momentary lecture rooms after one other 27 faculties and schools have been recognized as having strengthened autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) – taking the whole to 174 websites.

Ms Keegan made a weird defence of the Government’s botched response, the place she claimed kids really choose studying in momentary buildings. She instructed MPs: “I have been to a number of these schools and seen children and met children in the Portakabins, and in fact at the first school I went to the children were all petitioning me to stay in the Portakabin because they actually preferred it to the classroom.”

As Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson shouted from the Labour frontbench, Ms Keegan insisted: “The Portakabins are very high quality and I would advise her to go and see some of the high quality Portakabins that we have, and that is true.” Ms Phillipson blasted the Education Secretary as she warned there may very well be “years stretching ahead of our children sitting under steel girders”.

Claim she’s doing a ‘f***ing good job’ in sizzling mic rant

In a memorable TV blunder, Ms Keegan was caught mouthing off on the finish of an interview with ITV concerning the widespread disruption brought on by collapse-prone strengthened autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in faculties. Speaking earlier than the digital camera and mic have been turned off, she mentioned: “Does anyone ever say, you know what, you’ve done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a***s and done nothing? No signs of that, no?”

She later apologised for her “choice language” and mentioned it was an “off-the-cuff remark”. She additionally refused to say who she believed was “sat on their a***”. Ms Keegan mentioned: “I wasn’t really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary.”

Schools ought to ‘get off their backsides’

A day later, Ms Keegan was accused of making an attempt to deflect blame for the RAAC disaster by telling heads who hadn’t accomplished a Government survey to “get off their backsides”. The Education Secretary mentioned 5% of faculties and councils have didn’t reply to the Government’s questions on whether or not they had RAAC of their buildings.

In an interview with Jeremy Vine on Radio 2, she mentioned: “The annoying bit – and this was probably a bit of my frustration yesterday – is despite asking since March 2020, there’s 5% of schools and responsible bodies that have not responded to the survey. Now, hopefully, all this publicity will make them get off their backsides. But what I would like them to do is to respond because I want to be the Secretary of State that knows exactly in every school where there’s RAAC and takes action.”

Weird video responding to dodgy concrete disaster

As information broke concerning the disaster engulfing college buildings, Ms Keegan dodged media interviews and as an alternative did a weird video answering questions on security of faculty buildings. The two and half-minute clip, posted on YouTube, featured a bizarre dance music soundtrack as the faculties chief tried to soother frightened dad and mom.

But the choice sparked a backlash. Broadcaster Piers Morgan mentioned: “Where is the education secretary? She’s putting out these Oscars-style videos – sorry, that’s not your job. I don’t want slick videos. I want the education secretary to be held to account.”

Sporting Rolex whereas telling lecturers they cannot have a pay rise

The Education Secretary sparked a backlash when she toured the published studios to inform lecturers to be “realistic” on pay – whereas carrying a £10,000 Rolex. The luxurious timepiece was recognized by watch buff Rory Broomfield on Twitter as a Rolex Lady-Datejust 31 Everose in two-tone gold and metal, with a chocolate diamond dial on a clean bezel, with a Jubilee bracelet.

Ms Keegan, who was born in Merseyside and left college at 16, disregarded criticism as “inverted snobbery”.

Derided for declare £28k lecturers are in high 10% of earners

The Education Secretary was branded “staggeringly out of touch” after insisting a £28k wage places lecturers within the “top 10% of earners” in elements of Britain. Last 12 months, she instructed LBC radio: “My cousin has just started teaching and she is on £28,000. She is 23 and lives in Knowsley. She is single and lives with her mum and dad but the reality is that she is in a good career. It’s probably within the top 10% of earners in some parts of the country.”

Government figures show someone on a £28,000 salary is in the top 45% of UK taxpayers – people who earn £12,800 or more. The top 10% of taxpayers nationally earned £58,000 or more per year, according to figures from 2019/20.

Private schools cost as much as a holiday

Ms Keegan was ridiculed for arguing that it cost families the same amount to send their kids to private school as to go on holiday. In a botched attack on Labour’s plans to strip elite schools of their charitable status, she said: “Most of our private schools aren’t like Eton or Harrow – they’re far smaller and they charge a lot less. Many cost the same as a family holiday abroad and there’s plenty of parents who choose to forego life’s luxuries to give their children these opportunities.”

But Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Philipson identified that common non-public college charges are round £16,000 a 12 months – far increased than the price of a median vacation. She fumed: “It’s not just Rishi Sunak that hasn’t got a clue. What planet are this lot on?”