Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has apologised for comments he made suggesting teachers and nurses broke the rules to “enjoy a quiet drink” at the end of the day in staffrooms during lockdown.
In a letter sent to the NAHT school leaders’ union, Mr Fabricant said it was not his intention to “cause offence” or to “demoralise”.
The letter reads: “I applaud the work of nurses, GPs and others in the medical and teaching professions who worked long hours under difficult, and sometimes impossible, conditions during the height of the Covid pandemic to keep us all safe and to educate our children.
“We all have a debt to them which will be difficult to repay.”
During an interview on BBC News earlier this month, the Lichfield MP said that he did not think prime minister Boris Johnson knew that he was breaking the law when he attended a gathering in June 2020 to celebrate his 56th birthday.
“I don’t think at any time he thought he was breaking the law…he thought just like many teachers and nurses who after a very long shift would go back to the staff room and have a quiet drink,” Mr Fabricant said during the interview.
In his apology, Mr Fabricant said that, since the interview, a number of other cases of teachers drinking at school had been brought to his attention.
He added that this was “not surprising given that there are some 500,000 nurses and 625,000 teachers throughout Britain” but that the number of after-work drinks remained a “small minority”.
“My error in one part of the programme - which was repeated on TV - was to give the impression this was general practice by nurses and teachers: this was never the case,” he said.
In his letter to NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman, he said he felt that “if people were working closely together during the day and then met alone, without outsiders being present, they would be unlikely to spread infection”.
Mr Whiteman said: “We are pleased that Mr Fabricant has expressed regret for the effect of his comments - they were unjustified, unhelpful and damaging.”
“While we appreciate his explanation, we must reiterate that we do not recognise the picture Mr Fabricant painted of teachers drinking together during lockdown. Education professionals worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep pupils safe, supported and learning under exceptionally difficult circumstances.”
At its annual conference in Telford, NAHT will discuss condemning Mr Fabricant’s comments, applauding the “swift public intervention” of Mr Whiteman, who wrote to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi to criticise the “wholly inaccurate and deeply insulting” remarks.
“The subsequent apology issued by Mr Fabricant in response is welcome but we note that the slur has not been withdrawn,” an NAHT motion says.
“All too often we see baseless slurs and allegations made about the profession in an attempt to direct attention away from political failure,” it says, calling on the union to “publicly correct false impressions without fear or favour at every opportunity”.
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