An alliance of campaigners and parents from schools caught up in allegations of a radical Muslim takeover plot at Birmingham schools have attacked the Government’s “provocative and unhelpful” response.

Measures taken during the investigations, including appointing former counter-terrorism chief Peter Clarke to study claims of extremism in some Birmingham schools, have been criticised by leading campaigner Shabina Bano who claims it is spreading “fear and intimidation” in classrooms.

Two weeks ago the head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw, concluded there “was a culture of fear and intimidation in some schools” after the publication of an unprecedented series of inspections, triggered by the so-called Trojan Horse claims.

At a meeting on Thursday night at the Bordesley Centre, on Stratford Road in Camp Hill, campaigners said the central claim, contained in the Trojan Horse letter, that there was an extremist agenda remained “unproven” following those inspections.

Ofsted did find some schools were failing adequately to protect pupils from the risks of radicalisation, concluding some governors had exerted undue influence.

At a public meeting attended by up to 1,000 people, Salma Yaqoob, the former leader of Respect, said while there were real issues of poor governance to tackle it was necessary to “de-link this issue from terrorism and radicalisation”.

Campaigners, with the backing of National Union of Teachers’ Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney and former education commissioner Sir Tim Brighouse, have come together under the banner of Putting Birmingham School Kids First, in an effort to “challenge the narrative” which they claim has stigmatised Muslim pupils.

Former counter-terrorism advisor Jahan Mahmood claimed the Government was “shooting itself in the foot” with what he said was a heavy-handed approach. He believes the response of Education Secretary Michael Gove to order Ofsted into 21 city schools, had only increased the risks of young Muslims being radicalised. “Young people will now be Googling extremism,” he said.

He also believes the Government’s counter-terrorism narrative is “confused”. “On one hand, the Government say ‘hey you, Muslim, challenge your young people on the ideology of al-Qaeda’ but then it’s OK (for the Government) to support al Qaeda affiliates in Libya, when tackling Gaddafi?” said Mr Mahmood. “They are now more confused than the extremists,” he joked, earning laughter from the diverse crowd.

Campaigners have said they want to challenge the “ill-informed debate” around the alleged plot, which first surfaced in anonymous letter now widely believed to be a hoax claiming a clique of hardline Muslim governors were attempting to seize control of schools.

“The central allegation that there was an organised plot to radicalise school children in a handful of Birmingham schools, remains unproven,” the campaign’s manifesto stated. “What the Ofsted reports show is some governance issues in some schools.”

Continue reading →

A campaign group formed in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal is holding a public meeting tonight. The Putting Birmingham School Kids First group is meeting at 6pm at the Bordesley Centre in Camp Hill.

Speakers will include the former leader of the Respect Party Salma Yaqoob, former Birmingham chief education officer Sir Tim Brighouse, MP Shabana Mahmood (Ladywood, Lab), vicar of Small Heath Fr Oliver Coss and NUT deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney.

A campaign spokesman said: “Workable solutions will not appear overnight. Trust has broken down between those who should be working together. Our role in the journey is to provide parents, staff, pupils and governors a strong forum within which to voice their opinions about the issues raised over the last few months.”

The group said in a letter to a national newspaper that the campaign aimed to “challenge the false and divisive allegation that this is a problem of systematic radicalisation, extremism or terrorism”.

It added: “The Muslim community is no different to any other faith community in having a spectrum of opinions, from liberal to conservative, on what is the correct balance between secular and religious values in the provision of education. Instead of debating these issues openly, the government has taken the completely inappropriate approach of linking this with the prevention of terrorism.”

Birmingham Mail, 26 June 2014

Continue reading →

The Guardian has published two important statements on the witch-hunt against Birmingham schools launched by education secretary Michael Gove and Ofsted on the basis of the transparently fraudulent “Trojan horse” letter.

The first explains the basis on which the Putting Birmingham School Kids First campaign has been formed. The second warns against the exploitation of LGBT equality and rights to smear Muslims.

Continue reading →

The New York Times profiles Park View School in Birmingham.

Miscarriages of justice, similar to the Guildford Four case, could be repeated with Muslims as the new victims, a high-profile barrister has warned. Michael Mansfield QC said Muslims were being “criminalised” in the UK in the same way as the Irish community living in Great Britain in the 1970s.

He was speaking after the death of one of the Guildford Four, Gerry Conlon. Mr Conlon and his three co-accused spent 15 years in jail after they were wrongly convicted of IRA pub bombings. Their convictions were quashed in 1989, following a long campaign for justice. Mr Conlon, 60, died at the weekend after an illness. His family said his fight for justice had “forced the world’s closed eyes to be opened to injustice”.

Continue reading →

We should remember the miscarriage of justice suffered by the Guildford Four when we hear politicians whipping up anti-Muslim prejudice, argues Owen Jones.

Guardian, 22 June 2014