Academy trust, where pay of its leader surged at least 14% last year, suspends union rep for speaking out about budget pressures

Hundreds of people sign petition calling for re-instatement of teacher at Excel Learning Trust, formerly South Bank Multi-Academy Trust.

More than 500 people have signed a petition calling for the re-instatement of a union rep who had spoken out about the impact of cutbacks at his multi-academy trust – which saw the pay of its leader jump by at least 14 per cent last year.

Joe Brothers, a young English teacher at Millthorpe School in York, has been suspended after a video he recorded for a National Education Union campaign for greater classroom funding reached the public domain.

The video had given details on the impact of a controversial move by the trust to cut support staff pay, although without revealing which chain it was.

The development is the latest controversy to hit the academy trust Mr Brothers works for, which used to be called South Bank and which runs six schools in the Yorkshire city. It recently rebranded itself as Excel Learning Trust.