Striking teachers marched through central London today to demand that Gordon Brown reconsider a below-inflation pay deal, as picket lines forced the closure of over 8,000 schools.

The protest was one of 50 rallies nationwide where teachers joined other civil servants also demanding better wages . Union representatives said they felt no guilt at forcing one-third of the country’s schools to close or partially close, claiming education was facing a recruitment crisis because of effective pay cuts.

In Liverpool, around 300 teachers staged a protest march through the city centre, chanting “Gordon Brown you’ve let us down”.

Organiser Julie Lyon-Taylor, a member of the National Union of Teachers’ executive committee, said: “This strike really is the last resort.

“The fact is that teachers have been held to below-inflation pay rises for three years and if the Government gets its way, our pay will be held down for another three years.

“That is why half of all new teachers leave the profession within three years of starting the job.”

She added: “We don’t want to be on strike but if we don’t take a stand now, classroom standards will suffer.”

Class has been cancelled for an estimated one million children as members of the National Union of Teachers hold their first major strike in 21 years. The action comes amid the biggest wave of strikes since Labour took power in 1997, with police and coastguards among those in dispute with the government over below-inflation pay increases.

The NUT has rejected the 2.45 per cent pay rise recommended by the independent teaching pay review body, and say that they want 4.1 per cent because their salaries have failed to keep pace with inflation for the last couple of years. Some college lecturers are also holding their own walkout.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today described the strike as “unfortunate”, while Schools Secretary Ed Balls went further, insisting there was no justification for the strike.

“I think parents across the country will be annoyed and disappointed to see schools being closed today," he said. “The idea that lessons are being lost is very frustrating, and I’m sure I share that opinion with most teachers."

“There isn’t a justification for the strike. We have accepted in full the recommended independent pay review. Over the last 10 years teachers’ pay has risen substantially.”

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