Furious McAvoy walks out of NUT meeting

Doug McAvoy, the leader of the National Union of Teachers, staged a dramatic walkout from a union executive meeting as the turmoil over who should succeed him intensified.

Doug McAvoy, the leader of the National Union of Teachers, staged a dramatic walkout from a union executive meeting as the turmoil over who should succeed him intensified.

Mr McAvoy, who retires as general secretary at the end of next month, was incensed at a plan to hold a meeting to consider a staffing shake-up without senior officials being allowed to attend.

Mr McAvoy told his executive that the meeting would be illegal under union rules, which state that the general secretary is responsible for calling all meetings.

Two of the candidates hoping to succeed Mr McAvoy - Steve Sinnott, the union's deputy general secretary, and Ian Murch - have called for a restructuring of union staffing if they are elected to the top job. Union sources said it was 16 years since there had been any restructuring of staffing.

* There are four candidates to succeed Mr McAvoy as general secretary: Mr Sinnott; Mr Murch; John Bangs; and Martin Powell-Davies.