Gillian Keegan has rejected calls for Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab to step aside until an investigation into allegations he bullied civil servants is concluded.

The Education Secretary told Sky News: "I personally think it is fair to let investigations continue. I think that is the fair process. I think it was Dom himself who instigated this investigation. That is ongoing. That will uncover all the facts. When you get the facts you discuss and take the action.

"I think it only fair when somebody accuses somebody of something you go through that, you go through the fair process. I think that is the right thing to do. Then the Prime Minister and Dominic will obviously discuss that and make the right decision based on that."

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said she "regrets" that people are being "inconvenienced" by today's walkout by teachers. 

She also accused ministers of not having shown "any intention to negotiate" on pay and conditions. 

Asked for her message to workers who may earn less than teachers and who have had to stay at home today to look after their children because of the strikes, Ms Bousted told the BBC: "I very much regret that you have been inconvenienced and if you are losing money I very much regret that, so does the union. 

"And we would not be here if the Government had shown any intention to negotiate."

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the situation in schools is "becoming untenable" and it is time for teachers to "stand up". 

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "The strike that is happening today is very unfortunate. No teacher wants to be away from their class. 

"But I would also say that it is really important that teachers stand up now because the situation in schools is becoming untenable and that in the long term and indeed in the present is affecting the education of their pupils profoundly."

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said she expects most schools will open today despite the strike by teachers but there may be restrictions on which pupils can attend. 

She told BBC Breakfast: "We did do a survey and we have rung round a lot of schools as well and that told us told us that the majority of schools will be open but some will have restrictions for different cohorts."

Ms Keegan said the the country could not afford above-inflation pay awards.

She said: "What is not realistic is for us to be looking at inflation or inflation-busting pay rises. We cannot risk fuelling inflation with inflation-busting pay rises. We have to look after everybody in the economy."

Heathrow Airport said it is operating as normal with minimal queuing in immigration halls despite today's strike by Border Force workers.

A spokeswoman for the airport said: "Heathrow is fully operational, passengers are flowing through the border smoothly with Border Force and the military contingency providing a good level of service for arriving passengers.

"We are working to support Border Force’s plans to continue the smooth operation of the airport during this period of industrial action."

Gillian Keegan has hinted that the Government could look at changing the law to require teachers to tell their schools when they are going on strike. 

She told Times Radio: "Look, there is discussions around minimum service levels and minimum safety levels around hospitals, around rail and as part of that Bill, education is part of that Bill as well. 

"We are hoping not to use that. We are hoping to make sure that we continue with constructive, and try to continue constructive discussions and relationships. 

"But you know of course these things will always stay under review."

Today's walkout by teachers is not a "last resort" because the Government and unions are still engaged in talks on pay and conditions, the Education Secretary has said. 

Gillian Keegan told Times Radio: "Obviously I am concerned about this whole industrial action. I am concerned that the unions have chosen to go on strike. We were still in discussions, we have had discussions this week for over an hour and we have had many, many discussions and we have continued to be constructive. 

"We have said we will look at future pay, work load, behaviour of children, we will look at all the things we can do to support people in school, to support recruiting and retaining teachers in school. 

"So I am disappointed that it has come to this, that the unions have made this decision. It is not a last resort, we are still in discussions and I think that is quite important for people to understand. Obviously there is a lot of strike action today but this strike did not need to go ahead."

Gillian Keegan this morning rejected the suggestion that teacher recruitment problems are linked to pay. The Education Secretary said that before the coronavirus pandemic recruitment and retention were not a problem. 

Asked if she accepted recruitment challenges were linked to pay, especially in secondary schools, Ms Keegan told Times Radio: "No. I think what we have looked at is we have looked at recruitment and retention very seriously. In 2019 we worked with the sector and with unions to put together a recruitment and retention strategy. 

"Now as a result of that we increased pay for new teachers and that was part of a manifesto commitment we had anyway to increase it to £30,000 for graduates, that will be from September next year. 

"We also looked at retention, we looked at what we need to do by subject. We have bursaries in place for those that are more difficult, maths, physics, some of the sciences, computer science… and actually that was working up until the pandemic. 

"Up until the pandemic we were recruiting. There were still shortages in some difficult subjects… but many of the subjects we were actually meeting our retention targets. Clearly what has happened with the pandemic, not just in our country, not just in the teaching profession, is there has been a big dislocation in the labour market."

Reports of teachers having to rely on food banks because they are not paid enough are "not credible", the Education Secretary said this morning. 

Gillian Keegan told Times Radio: "I go to my food banks a lot because I am actually very interested in why people do go to food banks and usually they are there, everyone is different, but they are there in an emergency situation.

"I think the Trussell Trust say on average I think people need to use two food bank vouchers to get themselves out of a crisis every year so that’s kind of what happens and they are there for an emergency and anyone can find themselves in an emergency or a crisis. 

"But I think it is not credible that people are using them every day or every week, week in, week out. The Trussell Trust itself says that only sort of 15 per cent of people need more than three food vouchers a year and they are normally people who then get flagged and then the whole system looks at what extra support they need."

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said public sector demands for double digit pay rises are "economically incoherent".

She told Times Radio: "If we pay inflation, above inflationary pay rises to a small sector of people then that will fuel inflation, it will make it worse for everybody for longer. 

"It wouldn’t work, it is economically incoherent. The most important thing to do… is tackle inflation otherwise everything else will just continue to eat away at the pound in people’s pockets. So we have to look after the whole of the country, we have to make sure we do the right thing economically for everybody."