Rock legend Sting has backed the teachers and nurses in their pay dispute with the Tories - describing their treatment as a ‘disgrace’.
The 71-year-old, a primary school teacher before he found stardom, was speaking on a visit to his native Tyneside.
The Mirror met him before a fundraiser to mark the 50th anniversary of the Live Theatre, Newcastle.
“Teaching is one of the most important jobs in our society in my view,” he said.
“As well as nurses and many of those professions, they need to be paid well and it is a disgrace that they are not.
“I very much support them in their dispute.”
Sting was born and brought up in Wallsend, and combined his early singing career with his first job in a primary school.
After working as a bus conductor, building labourer and tax officer, he attended the Northern Counties College of Education - now Northumbria University - from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher.
He taught at St Paul’s First School in Cramlington, Northumberland for two years, before global success with The Police at 27.
He told the Mirror: “The Live Theatre is the voice of the North east. So it is lovely to come home. My two sisters, my brother and Jimmy Nail are all here. I flew in from Vegas where I did 22 shows. It is great to be back.”
Looking relaxed in a V-neck T-shirt and striped jacket, he was surrounded by fans, signing autographs and posing for photos.
He laughed when asked his age: “I am past 70! I am 71 now.”
During the performance, with reflections on his artistic life, he paid tribute to the teachers who had influenced his early career.
They included his piano teacher; a Maths teacher who gave him two percent in a test but then carefully explained Algebra; and his Secondary School English teacher who instilled a love of literature.
“I never throw a book away,” he said. “I was teaching in Cramlington when I realised I had to get out. Otherwise I’d be a deputy head there now.”
He joked about telling the headteacher that he was leaving and being asked: ‘But what about the pension?’”
Philippa Briggs, 61, a PA from Newcastle, joined the applause for teachers and nurses when Sting talked about their ‘terrible pay’.
“It was his life’s journey, and how his roots influenced so many of his songs,” she added.
Beth Farhat, regional secretary of the National Education Union, thanked the star for his ‘amazing’ support.
“It is great to get a public endorsement from a local hero like Sting,” she said. “He recognises the importance of the profession.”
Jack McNamara, Live Theatre artistic director, paid tribute to Sting, Jimmy Nail, and Robson Green.
“We are all about encouraging new talent. To bring in local figures who have gone on to have fantastic careers is really inspiring,” he said. “It is a brilliant boost. They have given their time for free which is absolutely magnificent.”
Further strike action is planned for April 27 and May 2.
