Must not mention nuns

Tristram Hunt, Labour’s shadow education secretary, is under fire after appearing to question whether nuns make good teachers during an appearance on a TV debate.

Labour has pledged to stop state schools employing unqualified teachers – a policy which would rule out graduates or former servicemen becoming teachers immediately without taking a course.

The comments came after journalist Cristina Odone, who spent some time at a faith school and writes for The Telegraph, praised the education she had received under nuns.

“The most inspiring teachers I’ve ever encountered were not out of teacher training college. You know what, they taught values, not British values, they taught real values,” Ms Odone said.

Mr Hunt interrupted: “These were nuns. These were all nuns, weren’t they?”

He added: “I know about your religious schooling and there’s a difference I think between a state education system having qualified teachers in the classroom.

The comments drew criticism from journalists and politicians on Twitter, with some calling on him to clarify that he did believes nuns can make good teachers.

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