PROPOSED European Union-US trade deal the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may stop Labour from ending the Tories’ free schools programme, teachers warned yesterday.

TTIP will hand firms the power to sue ­governments if the curtailing of their influence in public services caused a loss of revenue.

At its conference yesterday the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) unanimously passed an emergency motion noting the “grave threats to public services and especially education” posed by the deal.

Somerset delegate Caroline Kolek told the conference that TTIP would jeopardise ATL’s pursuit of its education manifesto, which pushes for accountability and attacks the profit motive.

“Transnational companies can put profit and greed before our members and before our students,” she said.

“I implore you to take this seriously. We must do all we can to raise awareness among our members and the wider education community.”

Motion seconder Godwin Agbi added: “It means democracy is for sale.”

Hertfordshire delegate Michael Catty warned that the deal would challenge Labour’s ambition to stop more free schools, a pledge reiterated by shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt when he addressed the conference on Monday.

“If he becomes secretary of state and gets rid of free schools he would probably find himself being sued,” Mr Catty said.

“These people would do anything to get their hands on money.

“Don’t let them say of ATL that they saw it coming and did nothing.”

Inner London delegate Jean Roberts said that the effects of the plans on education had not been fully understood.

“My prospective Labour MP in Brent [Dawn Butler] listed the concerns Labour had with TTIP and education wasn’t one of them,” she said.

“Why not, given it was in the leaked document?”

The deal is also the subject of a motion before the National Union of Teachers (NUT) conference, which begins tomorrow in Harrogate.