A FORMER leader of Britain's biggest teachers' union broke down as he described how stress and "Government bullying" was forcing him to quit the profession.

In a powerful speech to the National Union of Teachers' annual conference in Torquay, John Illingworth said serious mental health problems caused by work stress had "changed my life".

He won an emotional standing ovation from the 1,000 delegates at the union's conference as he urged members to back a motion calling for action to cut teachers' heavy workload.

But Mr Illingworth, who is still headteacher of Bentinck Primary and Nursery School in Nottingham and was the union's president in 2001/02, said the motion had come "too late" to help him.

Close to tears, he told the conference in Torquay that mental health problems were likely to affect one in three teachers.

"The illness has changed my life," he said.

"It was the cause of my standing down from the general secretary election two-and-a-half years ago.

Cumulative

"My illness has been caused by cumulative stress of work over many years which became beyond my capacity to manage.

"I tried as a primary head to lead my school in a way that was consistent with NUT principles, resisting imposition of initiatives by Tories and New Labour.

"But I have always felt bullied by government."

Ill health connected to work-related stress has become too common for teachers.

He praised the "great people" who had helped him cope with his condition - which is now improving, he said.

"But in the end the best way to deal with unmanageable stress is to remove the cause of it.

"I'm doing just that. This workload motion and others on the agenda are too late for me.

"I'm removing the cause of stress by leaving teaching.

"I think I have been a good head and a good teacher, but for me, enough is enough. My health comes first.

"Don't carry this for me, do it for the others."

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