“Britain’s Muslim schools have been sharply criticised in a controversial draft report commissioned by a leading think tank which suggests that over 60 per cent of them are linked to potentially dangerous Islamic fundamentalists.

“An early version of the report, entitled When Worlds Collide, alleges that of the 133 Muslim primary and secondary schools it surveyed, 82 (61.6 per cent) have connections or direct affiliations to fundamentalists. The 133 schools are in the private sector but supposedly subject to Ofsted inspection. The report also claims that some of these schools teach ‘repugnant’ beliefs about the wickedness of Western society and Jews.

“The claims in the report, written by Denis MacEoin in response to a commission from Civitas, will provoke ritual cries of ‘Islamophobia’ from the Muslim Council of Britain and fellow travellers such as Koran [sic] Armstrong.”

Yes, it’s yet another thoughtful contribution to interfaith dialogue from Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson.

It tells you all you need to know about MacEoin’s political agenda that he has chosen a blog run by a reactionary bigot like Thompson as the vehicle for promoting his forthcoming report.

But why should MacEoin leak the draft report before it is published? Thompson provides the answer:

“Civitas, however, is not prepared to endorse MacEoin’s 61.6 per cent figure, which will not appear in the published version of When Worlds Collide. A spokesman for Civitas explains: ‘We want to concentrate on claims that are absolutely robust, rather than complicated material, some of it in Arabic, that might unjustly damage someone’s reputation’.”

In other words, even an Islamophobic right-wing think-tank like Civitas regards MacEoin’s central claim, which forms the basis for Thompson’s “exclusive”, as indefensible.

But then, you might have thought that any self-respecting think-tank would steer well clear of MacEoin, given the problems over The Hijacking of British Islam, the notorious and now discredited report he put together for Policy Exchange.

Update:  Predictably, the British National Party are eagerly publicising MacEoin’s report, which of course provides a “respectable” cover for their own hate-filled propaganda against Muslim communities in the UK.