LABOUR'S chances of holding onto its Glasgow stronghold at the General Election have been dealt a further blow after a frontbench spokesman was accused of making 'sneering' remarks about the teaching ability of Catholic nuns, an MP has claimed.

 

The SNP has called on Ed Miliband's shadow education spokesman Tristram Hunt to make a full apology for his remarks on the BBC's Question Time programme.

The MP insisted he meant no offence, but Tory MP Nadine Dorries condemned Mr Hunt's comments as "arrogant", "sneering", and "intolerant." She predicting they would damage his party's electoral chances in Scotland on May 7.

The row comes days after a poll suggested the Nationalists could take six of the seven seats in Labour's Scotland's biggest city, which the party dominated for decades.

"If Labour had any chance of holding onto its Catholic Glasgow seats, it lost it last night with Tristram Hunt's remarks," said Ms Dorries, a former contestant on TV show I'm A Celebrity ...Get Me Out Of Here!

Mr Hunt, who opposes the use of unqualified teachers in classrooms, caused controversy when he clashed with journalist Christina Odone, a former editor of the Catholic Herald, on the programme on Thursday night.

She explained how some of the "most inspiring" teachers she had were ones who had not been through teacher training colleges.

This prompted Mr Hunt to say: "These were all nuns, weren't they?"

He then told Ms Odone: "I know about your religious schooling and there's a difference between a state education system having qualified teachers in the classroom."

But Ms Odone, who said she had been to a Catholic school, a state school and a private school, insisted: "The best (teachers) did not come out of teacher training college."

Following the exchanges, she hit out at the Labour frontbencher, saying: "Tristram Hunt's comments on nuns last night were arrogant and ignorant. Why is it acceptable to denigrate anything Catholic but bleat tolerance about every other religion?

"To know he and Labour stand a chance at the next election makes me fear for the 7000 brilliant faith schools in this country."

Mr Hunt took to Twitter to issue a clarification, saying: "On BBC QT I was trying to make a generalised point about the use of unqualified teachers in schools. I obviously meant no offence to nuns."

But his political opponents seized on his remarks, which on social media were dubbed "nungate".

A spokesman for the SNP said: "These are particularly ill-judged comments by Tristram Hunt - who seems to be developing a reputation for insulting and alienating everyone he speaks to - and he should make a proper apology for these latest remarks."

He noted how earlier in the week it was reported how the Shadow Secretary of State had told someone he thought was a teacher to "stop moaning and do some work".

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, tweeted: "My partner's Irish and was taught by nuns and received a fantastic education. Gross misjudgement to sneer at faith schools.

Tory backbencher Conor Burns denounced Mr Hunt's words as "absolutely shocking, sneering comments".

Earlier this week, a poll of 16,000 Scottish voters across 16 constituencies, 14 Labour and two Liberal Democrat, suggested the SNP would take all but one at the General Election. If the swing were replicated on May 7, then the Nationalist surge would mean the SNP taking six of the seven seats in Labour's hitherto stronghold of Glasgow.

When asked whether David Cameron believed nuns could make good teachers, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister thinks that there are a range of people who are well-qualified to be excellent teachers and it is obviously for headteachers to make those decisions on the ground. What matters most is that children are getting the best quality education they can."