Is Theresa May serious? She wants to know why nobody acted on Islamic supremacist attempts to take over British schools even when these plots became known? Nobody acted because of people like…Theresa May. Everyone was afraid to act because they were afraid that if they did, they would be labeled “Islamophobic” by a British political class that demonizes and even bans from the country those who speak out against jihad terror. When Britain collapses into civil war or capitulates totally to Sharia, the blame will be squarely on the shoulders of Theresa May and her allies and comrades.
“Home Secretary Theresa May at war with Michael Gove as she sends him open letter calling for tougher rules to deal with Islamic extremism in schools after Trojan Horse plot,” by Richard Spillett, Daily Mail, June 4, 2014:
Home Secretary Theresa May has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Education Secretary Michael Gove over his handling of the Trojan Horse schools scandal.
In a letter to her cabinet colleague, Mrs May called for tougher rules to tackle Islamic extremism in schools and asked why action was not taken sooner.
A total of 21 schools in Birmingham have been inspected since allegations that Muslim hardliners were attempting to seize control of school boards in the city.
After police, Ofsted and Department of Education launched investigations, a letter emerged in which Mrs May appeared to question Mr Gove’s response.
She wrote: ‘Is it true that Birmingham City Council was warned about these allegations in 2008? Is it true that the Department for Education was warned in 2010? If so, why did nobody act?
‘I am aware that several investigations are still ongoing and those investigations are yet to conclude. But it is clear to me that we will need to take clear action to improve the quality of staffing and governance if we are to prevent extremism in schools.’
A government task force on tackling extremism last year recommended a voluntary code of conduct to prevent children being exposed to ‘intolerant or extremist views’ in religious schools.
But Mrs May said the Birmingham allegations showed the potential need for a mandatory code and urged Mr Gove to include that option in his plans.
Mrs May wrote: ‘[Since] December there have been serious allegations of extremism in some Birmingham schools and accusations about the inability of local and central government to tackle the problem effectively.
‘In this context, I am not convinced that a voluntary code is sufficient and I believe it would be sensible to include the option of developing a mandatory code in your consultation document.’
Mrs May said the Birmingham allegations ‘raise serious questions about the quality of school governance and oversight arrangements in the maintained sector, not just the supplementary schools that would be signatories to this code of practice’.
Mrs May and Mr Gove moved to damp down speculation over a row within the Cabinet today, issuing a joint statement.
WHAT IS THE TROJAN HORSE PLOT?The so-called Trojan Horse plot first came to light earlier this year.
Department for Education inspectors were ordered into Park View School in Birmingham along with its sister schools, Golden Hillock and Nansen, after a letter dubbed ‘Trojan Horse’ was uncovered.
It is alleged girls at the school were forced to sit at the back of the classroom and non-Muslim pupils forced to ‘teach themselves’.
The letter, which some have claimed is fake, prompted separate investigations by both the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted in to the school and several others in the area.
The DfE has also appointed its own education commissioner, the former head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit Peter Clarke for the investigation.
The National Association of Head Teachers said it had ‘serious concerns’ about attempts to ‘alter the character’ of at least six schools – warning the ‘plot’ was spreading across the country.
It said: ‘The Department for Education and the Home Office take the problems in Birmingham schools and all issues relating to extremism very seriously.
‘Michael Gove and Theresa May are working together to ensure we get to the bottom of what has happened in Birmingham and take the necessary steps to fix it.’
And a source close to the Education Secretary said: ‘Michael Gove thinks Theresa May is a superb Home Secretary.
‘We will continue to work well with the Home Office and other Government departments to combat extremism in all its forms.’
Of the 21 schools inspected over the alleged Trojan Horse plot by hardline Muslims to seize control of classrooms, three have so far been given a clean bill of health by Ofsted.
Ninestiles School, an Academy in Acocks Green, Small Heath School, and Washwood Heath Academy are the first to publish the results of their inspections, after Mr Gove sent Ofsted in.
Park View school has been the focus of the most damning allegations after whistleblowing teachers claimed the school was in the hands of a group of extremists who infiltrated the governing body.
But Park View trust, which runs the school and three others in the city, has denied any wrong-doing.
Trust chairman Tahir Alam, who was accused of being part of the plot, has called the allegations ‘a witch-hunt’.
The school said leaked Ofsted findings were causing ‘unwarranted and unnecessary concern’ for children and parents.
It came as 20 educationalists said the snap inspections called after the claims had ‘tarnished’ Ofsted’s reputation.
In a letter to the Guardian, a group of experts including Sir Tim Brighouse, a former chief education officer, said: ‘First-hand accounts of the Ofsted inspections that have emerged are disturbing.
‘They suggest that inspectors were poorly prepared and had an agenda that calls into question Ofsted’s claim to be objective and professional in its appraisal of standards in schools serving predominately Muslim pupils.
‘It is beyond belief that schools which were judged less than a year ago to be outstanding are now widely reported as “inadequate”, despite having the same curriculum, the same students, the same leadership team and the same governing body.’
Indeed.