Category Archives: UK

Bradford’s acting bishop denounces far-right swoop on mosques

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bradford’s acting bishop has spoken out against the “disgraceful behaviour” of a far-right group at mosques in the district and at the Keighley home of the Lord Mayor.

Britain First members entered the places of worship on March 10, handing out Bibles and urging worshippers to renounce Islam, as well as visiting the home of the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Khadim Hussain. Bishop Tom Butler, Acting Bishop of Bradford, has condemned the group’s actions. He made the comments at a special civic service at Bradford Cathedral, attended by Coun Hussain.

In his address, Bishop Butler said: “Mr Lord Mayor, I say that none of you expect thanks, but neither do you expect the appalling treatment which you experienced when a delegation arrived at your home demanding to meet you. I can well understand your daughters felt intimidated, and I hope there is no repeat of such disgraceful behaviour in a city that has worked so hard to develop good relationships between the communities and the faiths.”

He added: “The situation is made worse in my eyes when other protesters at mosques carried Bibles and seemed to be claiming Christian authority for their behaviour. Mr Mayor, our holy books, be they the Bible or the Koran, are not to be waved in people’s faces like a weapon. They are to be treated with reverence and respect, and that has always been the tradition in this great city of Bradford.”

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Six Birmingham schools face censure by Ofsted after Trojan Horse inquiry

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, is to censure half a dozen schools in Birmingham for failing to prepare pupils “for life in modern Britain”, when Ofsted publishes the results of its investigations into the Trojan Horse affair, in which it was alleged there was an Islamist plot to subvert schools in the city.

The tranche of reports on 21 state schools, which could be published as early as this week, say there was scant evidence of religious extremism on a daily basis in classrooms, with most criticism reserved for school management and cases of overbearing behaviour by school governors.

Ofsted’s inspectors appear to have been unable to find much evidence of claims of homophobia or gender discrimination, which have been alleged by anonymous former teachers at some of the schools.

Six schools, including three operated by the Park View Academy Trust – Park View academy, Golden Hillock secondary and Nansen primary schools – are expected to be rated as “inadequate” and placed in special measures, allowing the Department for Education to remove the trust from the running of schools and replace their governors.

In the case of Park View, the inadequate grade would come a little more than two years after Ofsted inspectors rated the school as outstanding in all areas and praised it for its excellent academic results and inclusivity. In the two subsequent years its exam results have improved, but the latest Ofsted evaluation downgrades teaching and achievement.

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Man arrested at EDL protest set to face trial

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 26-year-old accused of threatening behaviour at an English Defence League protest in Slough is facing trial. Daniel Jones, of Avocet Close, Rugby, was arrested by police on Saturday, February 1, after protesting at the march in Slough town centre. He appeared at Maidenhead Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, May 22, but has been released on unconditional bail to appear at the same court on Thursday.

Slough Express, 31 May 2014

Peter Robinson should make public apology, says speaker at Belfast anti-racism rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Belfast rally against racism

One of the speakers at an anti-racism rally attended by thousands of people in Belfast on Saturday has called for the First Minister to make a public apology over recent comments he made about the Islamic faith.

Mohammed Samaana has worked as a staff nurse at the Ulster Hospital for over a decade. A member of the Muslim community, he has been the victim of racist attacks in Northern Ireland. He told UTV that the First Minister Peter Robinson should apologise publicly for recent controversial comments he made about Muslims.

The DUP leader’s comments appeared to defend controversial evangelical pastor James McConnell, whose sermon about Islam is being investigated by police. Mr Robinson has previously insisted his remarks were “misinterpreted and given a meaning that was never intended”. He met with NI’s Muslim leaders earlier this week at Stormont Castle, where he apologised in private.

Mr Samaana said the apology should not have been behind closed doors and he is angry that the First Minister has not apologised to all Muslims. “I heard the insult – but I haven’t heard the apology. I heard that he apologised before three men behind closed doors – that’s not an apology, ” he said. He wants a public apology and for Peter Robinson to condemn the recent negative comments made by Pastor McConnell.

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Ofsted inspectors make U-turn on ‘Trojan Horse’ school, leak shows

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Park View School

Ofsted’s first inspection of Park View academy – at the centre of the Trojan Horse allegations of an Islamist plot – cleared the school of allegations of discrimination and retained its “outstanding” rating, according to a leaked draft of the inspector’s recommendations seen by the Guardian.

The results of that initial inspection were rejected just a few days later when Ofsted inspectors re-entered the school and overturned their initial findings, replacing a string of relatively minor recommendations with more severe criticism that could see it placed in special measures as early as next week.

The revelation is the latest twist in the so-called “Trojan Horse” saga, which has seen claims of Islamist plots to take over schools in Birmingham turn into a political row that has engulfed the education secretary, Michael Gove, Ofsted chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, Birmingham city council and Britain’s former senior anti-terror policeman, recruited by Gove as a special education commissioner.

At the centre of the saga is Park View, a school rated by Ofsted as outstanding as recently as 2012 and praised by Wilshaw for its extraordinary exam success, despite having 60% of its pupils eligible for free school meals – three times the national average – in a deprived, heavily Muslim part of Birmingham.

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Michael Piggin trial collapses after jury fails to reach verdicts

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Michael Piggin graffiti and gun

A teenager accused of plotting a Columbine-inspired massacre at his former school in Loughborough has walked free from court after the collapse of his third trial. The jury in the trial of Michael Piggin, 18, failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for nearly 60 hours over 12 days at the Old Bailey in London.

Prosecutors said immediately afterwards that they would not seek a further retrial of the teenager, who first faced court last October, accused of planning to carry out a murderous attack on his former school, a cinema, a mosque and a council office near his home in the Midlands.

Piggin had earlier pleaded guilty to stockpiling weapons, including petrol bombs and component parts of pipe bombs, but consistently denied he intended to carry out an attack. The collapse of the third trial meant Piggin, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was free to leave the dock of the Old Bailey on Friday afternoon, although he must return to the court on 13 June to be sentenced for possessing explosives.

Over 10 weeks of evidence, the trial heard how Piggin allegedly drew up tactics for what he called “Operation: The New Columbine” in a notebook emblazoned with a Nazi swastika and the face of Che Guevara. The notebook allegedly contained a “hit list” which included his former school, a mosque, a cinema and other buildings among his supposed targets.

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Britain’s Muslim Brotherhood review still poses puzzling questions

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Time’s up for submissions to the British government’s controversial review of the Muslim Brotherhood – though it is just a coincidence that the May 30 deadline comes just as Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is confirmed as Egypt’s next president. Anyone who wanted to could send evidence (maximum 3,000 words) to the cabinet’s national security secretariat in Whitehall, which is coordinating the work being done by Sir John Jenkins, the UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The terms of reference include “the philosophy, activities, impact and influence on UK national interests, at home and abroad, of the Muslim Brotherhood and of government policy towards the organisation.”

No other countries are mentioned but critics insist the “review” (inside suspicious inverted commas) is directly linked to events in Egypt, where Sisi’s election victory follows the army’s removal of the Brotherhood’s democratically-elected (but deeply unpopular) Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 – and the bloodshed and repression that followed. In an open letter published in the Guardian this week they warned of a “dangerous precedent” and fretted that it might “represent a risk to civil liberties and further erode human rights standards”.

Concerns persist that the review is the result of pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Arab oil monarchies which persecute Islamists and are hugely important markets and clients for the UK, and have been instrumental in backing and bankrolling Sisi’s crackdown in Egypt. The authorities in Cairo have of course been banging the drum as well.

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Luton Muslim school demands Ofsted re-inspection over ‘extremism’ claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Olive Tree Primary SchoolA Muslim school says it will seek legal action unless a new Ofsted inspection is carried out, after saying it was depicted it as a “hotbed of extremism”.

The Olive Tree Primary School in Luton said it was criticised for promoting fundamentalist Islamic beliefs. It added that inspectors also asked children inappropriate questions about homosexuality and terrorism.

Ofsted has declined to comment on the draft report, which it says was given to the school “in confidence”.

The independent school said it was rated “inadequate” by the educated watchdog after it carried out an emergency inspection, triggered by its headteacher expressing views about Islam and homosexuality on local radio. Inspectors subsequently withdrew from the school on the second day following complaints about their questions on homosexuality, but the body said it had already gained “sufficient evidence” to form a report.

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