Education Secretary addresses the conference

Blunkett explains the role of the task force

Blunkett on Collision Course over Woodhead

Calls by Mr Blunkett for an end to "division and conflict" in education could well be ignored by teachers, who have shown a deep hostility towards Mr Woodhead. His appointment could threaten Mr Blunkett's key proposal to improve teaching in schools.

Mr Woodhead has long been at loggerheads with teachers, not least because of his remark that 15,000 of them were incompetent and should be sacked. Head teachers voted unanimously for a motion which expressed "no confidence over the continuation of...Chris Woodhead remaining in a position of major influence over the future development of policy within our schools".

One speaker, Brian Norbury, the head of Grange Primary School in Sefton, said Mr Blunkett should tell Mr Woodhead, "in the immortal words, 'stand not upon the order of your going, but in the name of God go!'"

NAHT general secretary David Hart said the motion demonstrated the "depth of hostility which the entire teaching profession has for Mr Woodhead".

Woodhead rejected unanimously

Conference call for Woodhead to go

In his speech to the conference, Mr Blunkett said it was time to end the "division and conflict" in education which had characterised the last government. He said he wanted "every shade of opinion in the education service" to be represented on the task force - that was why he was uniting Mr Woodhead with Professor Tim Brighouse as its joint vice-chairmen. Professor Brighouse has in the past accused Ofsted of conducting a "reign of terror" in schools.

Mr Blunkett said there were no "soft options" in his campaign to improve standards "because failure simply cannot be tolerated". He recognised that this needed the commitment of all teacher. "That is why working together and uniting behind a new consensus to spread success to every school is just common sense," he explained.

Mr Blunkett pointed out that Mr Woodhead and Professor Brighouse had agreed to work together to benefit the country's children. He told delegates that they should consider whether or not they were behind the Government's plans. "If you are not with us, then step aside," he said. "There is no room in the education service for those who do not believe we can do better".

Woodhead:Optimistic

His new partner on the standards task force, Professor Brighouse, felt that the vote was the sort of thing that happened at conferences when people got carried away. He said it was Mr Woodhead's job to "report the unvarnished truth as he sees it" in schools, and it was other people's job to respond with policies. "It's a great pity to confuse personalities with hard data," he pointed out.

Professor Brighouse said he was looking forward to working on a body which would unite all opinion to raise standards and he was sure that Mr Woodhead would make a powerful contribution.

Woodhead and Brighouse discuss the situation on BBC Radio

In the longer term, the Education Secretary also pointed out Labour's commitment to spend a greater proportion of national income on education over the lifetime of this parliament. His comments came on the day that the latest figures on class sizes showed a long-term rise.

Blunkett explains his position on Radio 4