Mike Russell "cannot hide behind coat-tails of Eton toffs" on pensions Published on Friday 8 June 2012 14:52 EDUCATION Secretary Mike Russell has been told he "cannot hide behind the coat-tails of some Eton toffs" at Westminster on the issue of pensions. General Secretary of Scotland's largest teaching union warns Mike Russell of hiding behind Westminster proposals for teachers" pensions Larry Flanagan wants Russell to "stand up for Scotland" over proposals Flanagan says the electorate has "firmly rejected" austerity measures Larry Flanagan, the new general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), issued the warning as he addressed the union's annual general meeting in Dundee. The union was still talking to the Scottish Government about the Scottish dimension of the pension scheme, Mr Flanagan said. Although the Westminster Government was the "driving force" behind changes, he demanded Mr Russell stand up for teaching staff north of the border. "We understand that it is the UK Government, the coalition, that has been the driving force behind the attempt to make teachers pay more, to work longer and to get less," he said. We know who the guilty are in this great cash robbery. But we have a clear message also for the Scottish Government and for Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, in particular. You cannot hide behind the coat-tails of some Eton toffs and say: it wisnae me. Scottish teachers expect the Scottish Government to stand up for Scotland on this issue and if they fail to do so, if they fail to deliver a fair settlement on pensions here in Scotland, we are prepared to fight them every bit as hard as we will fight the UK coalition Government on this issue. Teaching was a stressful profession, he said. The suggestion that teachers should stay in the classroom till they are 68 or even longer is not a credible notion and it is one we will resist: 68 is way too late. With the EIS membership including lecturers as well as teachers, Mr Flanagan used his speech to hit out at budget cuts in the further education sector. The UK Government's austerity has been "firmly rejected" by voters, he said. Delegates were told that talks over next year's pay claim will be "a very tough round of negotiations, as budget cuts bite deeply." Local elections in May made it clear "not only in Scotland but across Britain, that the UK Government's austerity programme has been decisively rejected." Mr Flanagan said: "It is clear that what the electorate wants is for elected politicians to fight back against austerity and not to simply administer a cuts programme. There is a simple choice: fight the cuts or fight us, because we are not minded to pay the price for the greed of others. Why should our children pay? Why should any of us pay? It's not that there is no money, that's a lie. It's about political priorities. Further education colleges were key to helping people escape poverty, but the sector had "suffered perhaps the sharpest cuts of all in terms of budgets being slashed, courses and student numbers being cut." He branded mergers between colleges as "forced marriages being foisted upon them." The Scottish Government "needs to recognise the pivotal role that the further education sector has to offer, particularly in this period of growing youth unemployment and disillusionment," Mr Flanagan said.