A headteachers’ leader will suggest government politicians should go back to school to be taught about leadership. 

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, will accuse the government of an “absolute failure of political leadership” when heads gather for an annual conference today.

He will tell delegates that it is a “pity” that heads can’t mandate that political leaders go back to school, so they can learn a “thing or two” about leadership, in a speech criticising the government over the Covid partygate scandal and its response to Ukrainian refugees.

Mr Whiteman will add that the basics that schools teach are ”self-regulation, good behaviour, decency, honesty and integrity”, and that these things are ”hard to observe in the UK government”.

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Speaking to heads at the conference, which will take place in Telford, Shropshire, Mr Whiteman will add that “the failure of an out-of-touch government is making the job of producing well-rounded young adults ready to play a full role in society so difficult”.

He will also say: “I am not that angry that we all obeyed the rules at the most desperate of times while our leaders partied. In the grand scheme of things, the offence of having a glass of wine and a slice of cake is minor. But for the prime minister of the county to mislead us about it, repeatedly, is unforgivable and clearly in breach of the standards of our democratic institutions.

“If we cannot trust our leaders to tell the truth about cake, how can we trust that we will be told the truth about war? How can we trust that we will be told the truth about refugees, how can we trust that we will be told the truth about the economy, the progress of the pandemic…or the government’s ambitions for education?

“It matters because young people can see this playing out before their very eyes. And schools’ efforts to make sure young people understand the basics of self-regulation, good behaviour, decency, honesty and integrity becomes so much more difficult against that backdrop.”

A ‘complete lack of compassion’

Mr Whiteman will also criticise the government’s approach to dealing with refugees and immigrants, as well as recent government guidance on political neutrality for teachers.

He will say: “Like the rest of us, young people see on the television every day the appalling scenes from Ukraine. And before that the difficult scenes from Afghanistan and the difficult scenes from Syria. They see refugees, desperate humans, arriving on our shores in rubber boats from France.

“And they also see the complete lack of compassion, the complete lack of humanity demonstrated by our government in the way we deal with these issues.”

He will add: “History will define governments on how they acted during such crises, and this administration’s hesitance in welcoming those affected by the war does not reflect the values of compassion, humanity and solidarity that I know many of you and your colleagues have shown when children from war-torn countries have joined your school.

“It’s a pity we can’t mandate our country’s leaders to go back to school, so you can teach them all a thing or two about leadership.”

On the political neutrality guidance given to teachers, he will say: “Young people are not stupid; they also see and hear the difficult debates about immigration and are inquisitive. But you are not allowed to teach young people about this in a balanced way. The rhetoric from the government wants to portray you as trendy lefties that want to indoctrinate young people. That is utter tosh.”

He will add that teachers and school leaders will teach young people about “how to interrogate these issues well and draw their own conclusions”, and will add that “they have been doing this well for years”.

New government guidance on political impartiality in schools will help teachers avoid “promoting contested theories as fact”, the education secretary said earlier this year.

The guidance, which applies to all schools, including independent ones, suggests that the teaching of historical figures to younger students should focus on “factual information” about them, as pupils “may not be able to understand the contested aspects of their lives, beliefs and actions”.