Latest news straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The general secretary of teaching union NASUWT has claimed there has been no radicalisation or religious extremism in Birmingham’s Trojan Horse schools.

Chris Keates, general secretary of Rednal-based union, has dismissed the findings of two independent reports and has written to the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to complain about one penned by former anti-terror chief Peter Clarke.

Mr Clarke, who led a Government-ordered probe into the Trojan Horse plot after five Birmingham schools were placed in special measures following snap Ofsted inspections, found “compelling evidence” of an attempt to “gain control” of some school governing bodies.

He claimed his discoveries were the “tip of the iceberg” and the Government was “nowhere near” getting to the bottom of the issues.

He also criticised both NASUWT and Birmingham City Council’s response to the scandal.

But Mrs Keates criticised Mr Clarke, claiming he did not go “far enough” when carrying out his investigation.

She said: “I thought he came with an agenda from government to find radicalisation and extremism and when I read the report I was certain he did.

“I asked to see him and when I did he did not ask me any questions.

“My concern was that the only people he spoke to were people with axes to grind.

“Yes, there were particular members of a community behaving in the wrong way but I don’t believe it was radicalisation or extremism.”

Mrs Keates said the government was at fault for giving free reign to academies to set their curriculum and operate outside of local authority control – four of the five schools at the heart of the Trojan Horse allegations are academies.

“The government has given unprecedented autonomy to schools – particularly academies – and they have let them do what they want,” she said.

“There are no longer any levers for compliance in place to allow local authorities to ensure legislation and policies are being practised and upheld.

“Certain governors are taking advantage of that – not necessarily just Muslim governors.

“If government legislation allows schools to choose to teach only Islam and they say it’s a free choice, then you can’t say it is an example of radicalisation.”

She said that the scandal has exposed “corrupt” governors, but she does not believe they have extreme religious views.

“Governors who use their own business connections or the school to further their own interests, that is corruption, it is nothing to do with being in a Muslim or Asian community,” she said.

And she said she feared the scandal is still having an impact on Birmingham communities and teachers.

“Birmingham has a proud history in the work it has done to be a fantastic and cohesive multi-culturual city, indeed celebrating those cultures,” she said.

“The people of Birmingham are concerned that the city seems to have been used as a pawn in a much bigger game.”

Mr Clarke has previously criticised Mrs Keates for failing to declare she was married to Birmingham City Council’s former cabinet member for education Les Lawrence while he was investigating Trojan Horse allegations.

It has been reported that Mr Lawrence is also a former business partner of Tahir Alam, the chairman of governors at Park View School, which is at the centre of the Trojan Horse allegations.

He also criticised NASUWT’s treatment of Balwant Bains, the head of Saltley School, who told the inquiry he was forced out of his job by Trojan Horse plotters.

Mr Bains told Mr Clarke’s inquiry that he had not been properly supported by the union.

It has been reported that the union wrote to Mr Bains threatening legal action unless he signed a statement clearing it of any blame in his case.

Mrs Keates said: “Les left the council two years ago and Mr Clarke did not ask me any questions about my marital status.”

She said it was “inappropriate” to discuss advice given to Mr Bains.

Mr Clarke said politicians and senior officials denied all knowledge of the Trojan Horse allegations – until his team found an email which, he said, “showed they had known about it all along”.

Describing Birmingham City Council’s conduct as “extraordinary”, he said Ian Kershaw – who led the council’s own Trojan Horse probe – also received similar denials from politicians and senior officials.

Responding to Mr Clarke’s criticism of the council, a spokesman said: “Both Peter Clarke’s and Ian Kershaw’s full reports have been received, and both have fed into a strategic action plan which is being overseen by the Education Commissioner, Sir Mike Tomlinson.

“The key points he wants the council to focus on are safeguarding in its schools, in the broadest sense, and to be on top of governance, with the sort of issues that have been raised in both reports.

“We have already admitted we didn’t link the intelligence together correctly, but the time for looking past is gone.

“Going forward we’re firmly focused on working towards delivering the improvements in a number of key areas such as strengthening governor appointments and training and our whistleblowing process and reporting, as well as continuing our work in reviewing our relationship with all schools.

“It is our firm intention to work with the commissioner and implement a thorough response to ensure we respond to the findings of Mr Clarke’s inquiry.”



A DfE spokesperson said: “Peter Clarke carried out a full and thorough report into Birmingham schools and set out clear evidence which identified how the actions of a small number of individuals in some schools represented a serious risk to the safeguarding of children and the quality of education being provided.

“We will always investigate any evidence put to us and are taking decisive action to put things right. This includes the appointment of an Education Commissioner in Birmingham who is working jointly with Birmingham City Council to oversee improvements to the standards of education in the city.”