Gillian Keegan left viewers stunned after she dropped the F-bomb moments after an interview on the school concrete crisis.
Speaking to ITV News in Westminster, the cabinet minister railed against individuals being “sat on their arses” and claimed the government had gone “over and above” to tackle mounting fears over reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
In the rant, which takes place in-between camera shots, Keegan said: “Does anyone ever say: ‘You know you’ve done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their arses and done nothing.”
She added: “No signs of that, no?”
In the same interview, the education secretary told ITV News that it is not the government’s job to maintain school buildings, despite thousands of children facing disruption as the new term begins.
It comes as more than 100 schools were ordered to close over concerns about collapse-prone RAAC just days before the start of the new term.
Widely used in the 1960s and 1970 with a lifespan of 30 years and a texture described as “bubbly”, the material was flagged as a safety risk in 2018 following the collapse of a school roof in Kent.
A report published in June revealed 400 other schools could be impacted by the material’s long-term use, putting an estimated 700,000 pupils at risk of being crushed.
Related: Sunak blamed by former official over school rebuilding cuts
