Teachers turn to Corbyn: Labour leader gets standing ovation at NUT conference as angry union members contemplate strikes 

Jeremy Corbyn managed to get a friendly audience on side today as he made a joke at the expense of the Chancellor while blasting the Government's plan to turn all schools into academies at the National Union of Teachers' (NUT) conference.

The Labour leader became the first political leader in living memory to address the body at their annual meeting in Brighton. 

The packed hall rose to its feet as he accused the Tories of presiding over a 'crisis in our schools'.

And Mr Corbyn drew laughs by identifying Mr Osborne as one person who could benefit from the lessons of his late mother, who was a maths teacher and NUT member.

Jeremy Corbyn tore into the Government's planned academisation programme at the National Union of Teachers' Conference (pictured) today

'There's one or two pupils around the country who need extra tuition - one of those is George Osborne,' the former backbencher said.

'Having just presented a Budget to Parliament that doesn't add up - in fact it has a massive black hole in it - I think maybe a little extra tuition would be useful to him.

'Is anybody offering? Please, somebody!'

The hard-left Labour veteran, a fervent opponent to the Government's planned academisation programme, slammed the Conservative proposals to force all schools to become academies, announced by the Chancellor in his Budget last week. 

'Let's be clear - this is an ideological attack on teachers and on local and parental accountability - it was nowhere in Tory manifesto, it's something that's just been dreamt up at the last minute and stuck into the Budget,' he said.

'I want schools accountable to their parents and their communities - not as a process of asset-stripping our facilities to be handed over to somebody else.

'There is not a shred of evidence that academies improve standards.

'There is a crisis in our schools now. Children are facing rising class sizes; there is a shortage of teachers, and parents already face a crisis in school places.

'Forced academisation will do nothing to address any of those problems.

'Yet, in Osborne's Budget, over £600 million has been allocated to needless reorganisation that has addressed not a single issue that matters to teachers, parents or pupils.

'You see where the priorities are - spending money on a reorganisation nobody wants, to reduce the influence and control of local authorities in order to bring in unaccountable academies. Those are the Tory priorities - they're absolutely not ours,' he added.

The Conservative proposals to force all schools to become academies was announced by the Chancellor in his Budget last week

Members of the audience shouted: 'We love you Jeremy' as he left the stage. 

The NUT has said strike action is on the table if ministers refuse to back down on their proposals, confirmed in a white paper earlier this month.

Two years ago, a similar teacher one-day walk-out forced 21 per cent of the country's schools to close – with almost all schools closed in some areas. 

The union has said forcing all schools to become academies would mean the end of standardised pay and conditions for teachers, as non-council run schools have freedom over these issues.

And it warned the proposal was 'undemocratic' because it was not contained in the Conservative party's manifesto. 

Teachers are due to vote on a path to strikes later this weekend, while the conference is due to conclude on Tuesday.

A proposed timetable suggests a one-day strike with other teaching unions 'before the end of summer term'.  

Christine Blower, long-time general secretary of the NUT, made clear her disagreement with the Government's academy plans.

'We genuinely believe that there is both very wide and very deep opposition to this. We think it's in the frame of the government wanting to behave in a way that's not democratic,' she said.

'Because actually if they had thought about academising all schools, they could have gone to the country with that as part of their manifesto.

Christine Blower (pictured), long-time general secretary of the NUT, said she was 'very pleased' Mr Corbyn broke with tradition to attend

Members of the audience shouted: 'We love you Jeremy' as he left the stage at the conference in Brighton

'We believe there is a very wide range of people that think this is an appalling proposal.

'It's not the right thing to do to our education system.

'It's the nature of the compulsion which people are finding offensive and undemocratic.'  

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: 'We want to see educational excellence everywhere in the country - we are protecting the schools budget in real terms and making funding fairer by introducing a new national funding formula so that areas with highest need attract the most funding.

'We're investing hundreds of millions in teacher recruitment and the vacancy rate has remained low over the last 15 years. In fact, last year we recruited 116 per cent of our primary schools target, and the pupil teacher ratio has remained stable when compared to 2010.

'We know unnecessary workload is one of the biggest frustrations for teachers and have done more than ever to tackle this by setting up three review groups to address the key concerns raised through the workload challenge. We trust heads, governors and academy trusts to plan their staffing and make sure teachers and staff have the support they need.' 

Some may see Mr Corbyn's speech at the NUT conference as helping soothe relations between his party and union delegates.

His appearance came 14 years since senior Labour figures stopped coming to the gathering following the hostile reception given to then-education secretary Baroness Estelle Morris in 2002, who was heckled and slow-hand-clapped.

The Government's plans to force all schools in England to turn into academies by 2020 have come under fire from Labour, the unions and some Conservatives in local government who will be stripped of the power to run schools in their areas.

Mr Corbyn's intention to speak at conference was not officially confirmed until his campaign team posted a note on Twitter, informing the account's more than 110,000 followers, just a few hours before the five-day event was due to officially open.

Ms Blower said she was 'very pleased' Mr Corbyn broke with tradition to attend the NUT's conference.

She told reporters: 'Jeremy got in touch with us and asked if he could come and speak to delegates because the approach of the Labour leadership now is to talk to people and have engagement about the policies.

'We've never actually been approached by anyone else, any politician, who's wanted to come. So when you get a party leader who's clearly very interested in doing things differently asking to come, it seemed wise to accede to that.

'I don't believe we've ever had a party leader here. It is true that I have only been a member since 1973, and I haven't been at every single conference, and the union was founded in 1870, so people who dredge through the archives might be able to find one.

'But it is not something that has happened in my memory of NUT conferences.'

Asked if she would welcome David Cameron's request to speak at future conferences, Ms Blower joked: 'It's a hypothetical question to which I will not respond.'