Smart move

Michael Gove, one of the few Tories who I think still is a conservative, suggests that teachers should get back to being smarter in their personal appearance and give up the denims, leather and dirty trainers.

While stressing that it was not for politicians to dictate what teachers wear, Mr Gove said that smartly dressed teachers gave the whole school a more professional atmosphere.

Hear! Hear!

Of course, this has the lefties up in arms.

But Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union was outraged at the suggestion of a dress code for teachers.

“This is a party that said it wants to allow teachers more independence to use their professional judgement and it is making suggestions on the way they dress,” she said.

Soooo - your idea of "independence" in teaching is having the right to choose what colour knickers you put on in the morning, love? I bet they're red with a picture of Che Guevara on the ass. The fact that parents and pupils alike seem to prefer the idea of teachers dressing decently instead of looking like they've just fallen out of the pub after the latest left wing anarchist agitator meeting is irrelevant to the commissars of the NASUWT.

“If this is a sign of things to come, 400,000 teachers will be alienated,” she said.

Not that 400,000 teachers need much encouragement to become "alienated". Perhaps if the daft cow was actually to listen to what Gove said rather than being so reactionary, she might realise that Gove is NOT suggesting that the Tories would enforce this - he is just saying he things it is a good idea for schools to have dress codes.

And why not? They have dress codes for pupils - why not teachers? And schools are, after all, just another workplace and the vast majority of workplaces have a dress code - why should schools be any different?