Imagine if the religious sect at the centre of the Trojan Horse plot were Christian…

Imagine for a second that the Birmingham schools at the centre of the Trojan Horse plot were being run by a Christian sect. Suppose that instead of organising trips to Saudi Arabia that non-Muslim schoolchildren were excluded from, this sect organised a trip to Bethlehem that Muslims weren't allowed to go on. That instead of organising school assemblies in which Western women were described as "white prostitutes", it organised assemblies where African-Caribbean men were labelled "black pimps". That instead of encouraging children to chant anti-Christian slogans, it got them to chant anti-Islamic slogans. That instead of a non-Muslim head teacher asking Ofsted to meet her in a car park because she felt "intimidated" by her Muslim governing body, it was a Muslim head teacher who was living in fear of an all-Christian body. Finally, suppose that the attitude of this Christian group towards women was absolutely identical to that of the Islamic sect that has infiltrated these Birmingham schools. That is, girls were forced to sit at the back of the class, they weren't taught anything about sex and if any were seen chatting to boys a religious zealot would go to their homes and warn their parents that they were in danger of becoming "sluts".

I think it's a safe bet that the Left would now be united in condemnation of this group. The Equality and Human Rights Commission would justifiably be angry that children as young as seven are being discriminated against on religious (and, arguably, ethnic) grounds. Feminists like Yasmin Alibhai-Brown would be up in arms about the fact that female students are being treated as second-class citizens, instead of defending the schools as part of the rich tapestry of "multicultural Britain". The Guardian would be leading the charge against these schools – and rightly so – instead of publishing article after article dismissing their critics as racists and excusing these discriminatory practises on the grounds that the pupils concerned are "overwhelmingly Muslim". The Labour MP Diane Abbott would be shouting about this from the rooftops, instead of accusing me of conflating all Muslims with terrorists, as she did on Murnaghan on Sunday when I described this particular Islamic sect as "medieval".

The most common reaction on the Left has been to use this scandal as a stick to beat faith schools with, even though none of the 21 schools under investigation in Birmingham are faith schools. Thus, the British Humanist Association has tried to hijack this story to promote its anti-faith agenda and the Daily Mirror has published an article demanding that faith schools be "banned". Given that the vast majority of faith schools in England are either Catholic or Anglican, it is Christians who would suffer if such a ban were imposed. Is that really the best the Left can do? Somehow turn the antics of a group of Islamic fanatics into an argument against allowing Christians to run schools? It's almost as if the religious sect at the heart of this story is Christian, rather than Muslim.

This isn't a story about faith schools, it's not about Michael Gove's inability to understand modern Britain, it has nothing to do with "Islamophobia". Rather, it's a story about schoolchildren in Birmingham being exposed to a pernicious ideology that is fundamentally at odds with our way of life. I'm sure the vast majority of British Muslims are as appalled as I am by the revelations of the last few days. Only the Left would seek to excuse this abhorrent behaviour in the name of "multiculturalism".

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100275645/imagine-if-the-religious-sect-at-the-centre-of-the-trojan-horse-plot-were-christian/

Top article.


You can imagine the reactions couldn't you if what was suggested was happening.




But again because it is the special muslims doing it, we have to treat it differently.


Well bollocks to their so called 'cultural sensitivities' i say.

Spassy was posting nonsense from the Guardian saying this plot is simply racial discrimination it isn't happening. The Liberal left never fail to amaze.

Now, instead of the hysteria, lets hear it from David Hughes, Vice Chair of Park View Educational Trust and Lee Donaghy, assistant principal, at Park View (my, what a couple of muslim names they are!)

Three schools that were investigated in the wake of the “Trojan Horse” allegations have been declared failing and have been placed in special measures, it has been confirmed.

Park View Educational Trust announced that its three schools - Park View Academy, Golden Hillock and Nansen Primary - have all been rated inadequate by Ofsted.

The Trust has robustly rejected the findings and in a statement, its vice-chair David Hughes insisted that the schools “do not tolerate or promote extremism”.

The Trust will be seeking to mount a legal challenge to the judgments, he added.

Here is the statement in full from Vice Chair of the Trust David Hughes: "I have been a governor at Park View school for 17 years and I’m immensely proud of what’s been achieved here and what’s been done, and very distressed about what happening to undo that work ...

"On behalf of staff, students and parents who have worked so hard improve their schools, we are extremely disappointed to confirm that Ofsted has graded Park View, Golden Hillocks and Nansen schools as inadequate and put them into special measures.

"We support the role of Ofsted in holding schools to account in a fair and transparent way, but we wholeheartedly dispute the validity of these gradings.

"Park View, Golden Hillocks and Nansen are categorically not inadequate schools."

Mr Hughes added: "Our Ofsted inspections were ordered in a climate of suspicion created by the hoax Trojan letter and by the anonymous, unproven allegations about our schools in the media. Ofsted inspectors came to our schools looking for extremism, looking for segregation, looking for proof that our children have religion forced upon them as part of an Islamic plot. The Ofsted reports find asbsolutely no evidence of this because this is categorically not what is happening at our schools.

"Our schools do not tolerate or promote extremism of any kind. We have made a major commitment to raising all students’ awareness of extremism. People who know and have worked with our schools are appalled at the way we have been misrepresented.

"Our schools serve some of the most disadvantaged communities in Britain. In spite of this, 75% of students at Park View achieved at least five good GCSEs last year, including in English and maths. This makes it the best school of its type in England. Golden Hillocks and Nansen are on course to get the best results ever. Quite simply, this is because we believe our role is to break the links between demographics, deprivation and destiny.

"We refuse to let our students’ backgrounds limit what they can achieve, and who they can become."

Mr Hughes concludes: "The speed and the ferocity with which Park View school in particular has been condemned is truly shocking. Park View school has helped transform the lives of local families by realising their hope and ambition for educational success. School communities at Park View, Golden Hillocks and Nansen that have worked hard to turn round failing schools are being condemned when they should be being celebrated.

"The problem here is not extremism or segregation or religious indoctrination, all the things that Ofsted looked for but failed to find in our schools. The problem here is the knee-jerk actions of some politicians that have undermined the great work that we do here and undermined community cohesion across Birmingham and across many of our cities.

"They have put Muslim children from these communities at substantial risk of not being accepted as equal, legitimate and valued members of British society, and they have allowed suspicion to be cast on the aspiration of their parents and anyone else who believes that these children deserve the same rights and excellent standard of education as any other child.

"And it is important you know we will now be challenging all these reports through the appropriate legal channels."


Lee Donaghy, assistant principal, at Park View, also condemned the Ofsted report.

Speaking outside the school he said the school was “part of the solution, not part of the problem”, describing it as “a beacon of hope against isolation, poverty, drugs, crime and – yes – potential extremism”.



Here is the full reaction from Lee Donaghy, assistant principal Park View School, which as been at the centre of some of the most serious allegations.

Offering a passionate response to the allegations, he said: "On behalf of the staff of Park View, I want to say first and foremost that we reject this Ofsted report. It is simply not true that the school does not do enough to protect our pupils from the risks of extremism.

"Every day, my colleagues and I work hard to ensure our pupils are disciplined, understand and respect difference and most of all achieve well, and in the process gain a full understanding of their religion - the surest guards against extremism of any kind.

"It is also simply not true that pupils at this school are isolated from British society. As our termly newsletters show, this school provides our pupils with opportunities to rival any state school in Birmingham, indeed in Britain.

"This is a normal state school, like thousands of others across Britain - 98% of our pupils just happen to be Muslims. British Muslims."


Mr Donaghy continues: ""I came into teaching through the Teach First programme in 2004 and came to Park View through the Future Leaders programme in 2010. As a young person from a working class family in an urban area of Merseyside, with no family history of higher education, a first-class education was transformational for my own life chances and gave me opportunities I would not otherwise have enjoyed.

"As such my career in teaching is driven by a determination to deliver the promise education holds to as many young people as possible. Put simply, my aim is to break the link between demographics and destiny for those pupils I serve. An aim enshrined in the mission of Park View Educational Trust and one shared - as he spoke about, with the very same words, on Saturday - by the Education Secretary.

"Despite being an agnostic this school closely reflects my values and the moral purpose that brought me into teaching, as it does those of my colleagues from all faith backgrounds and none."


Mr Donaghy concluded: "For the community in which you all now stand - as visitors covering a story - our school stands as a beacon of hope against a tide of isolation, poverty, drugs, crime and yes, potential extremism.

"Park View is part of the solution, not part of the problem. It is a beacon like no other in this area, a school which achieves what many thought impossible - poor, inner city, Muslim children achieving as well as any children, anywhere. And now that beacon risks being extinguished.

"We have nothing to hide. Talk to the parents, talk to our former pupils. They will tell you this is an outstanding school, with outstanding results, where pupils are taught right from wrong. They will tell you there is no segregation or extremism. And they will tell you that this is a rich, vibrant school that is part of its community. This school is part of Britain, and Britain is part of this school."

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/live-birminghams-trojan-horse-schools-7236952

BTW, you did know that no extremist plot was found, didn't you?

98% of pupils Muslims......



Where are Ofsted here criticising them for being insufficiently white British....???