LABOUR stalwart Barry Sheerman knows it's just artistic licence.

But even the Huddersfield MP must have been a little perturbed to hear his son John is starring in a new play - as a Tory MP!

John, 25, is one of the cast of Amy Evans's Strike, which has started a month-long run at the Courtyard Theatre in London's Covent Garden.

And in a further ironic twist, it is a play about problems in the education system - a subject close to the heart of Mr Sheerman, chairman of the Education Select Committee.

Barry Sheerman said:"John has just been performing in Edinburgh and has now started work in Covent Garden.

"The play is about a schoolgirl who becomes disillusioned with the teaching she is getting and goes on strike.

"Like all the cast, John plays a number of roles.

"He starts off as a 12-year-old boy, then becomes a journalist trying to embarrass the Government and finally is a Tory MP in a Commons debate.

"The first I knew about it all was when he invited the family to watch.

"Now I'm hoping to invite education minister Andrew Adonis to come and see the play with me. I'm sure he'll find it entertaining."