ON December 31, Labour-controlled Durham County Council will sack all 2,700 of its teaching assistants.

On January 1, it will reappoint them on a 23 per cent pay cut, even though they were already among the lowest paid in the country, and even though the councillors’ own allowances have recently been increased.

On July 8, representatives of the teaching assistants met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, both of whom expressed the strongest possible support for their cause. On July 9, Mr Corbyn repeated that support in his speech from the platform of the Durham Miners’ Gala, at which, albeit briefly, Ms Rayner marched with the teaching assistants. Mr Corbyn also signed the teaching assistants’ petition.

This cause was supported very actively by the late Davey Hopper of the Durham Miners’ Association, right up until his recent, untimely death.

In the strongest possible terms, we implore Durham County Council to heed the words and deeds of Jeremy Corbyn by reversing this cruel and unnecessary attack on a loyal, low paid, invaluable, and overwhelmingly female workforce.

David Lindsay, journalist and activist, Lanchester; Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers; Fiona Farmer, National Officer for Local Authorities, Unite the Union; Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union