“Michael Gove believes there has been a plot by extremist Muslims to take over schools in Birmingham and is preparing to drive them out,” reports the Times on its front page. “The education secretary is convinced that a small group of extremists has infiltrated schools in the city with tactics similar to those used by the Militant Tendency in the Labour Party in the 1980s, a senior source has said.”
Here’s the kicker: “Mr Gove blames their influence on a reluctance within Whitehall, especially in the Home Office, to confront extremism unless it develops into terrorism and believes that a robust response is needed to ‘drain the swamp’.”
Since when, however, did Michael Gove become an expert on counter-extremism strategies? Robust or otherwise?
Mehdi Hasan questions the credentials of the politician responsible for the “Trojan Horse” witch-hunt.