Schools: Extremism and Intolerance

Lord Watson of Invergowrie Excerpts

Monday 28th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I really cannot comment on that; I will leave it to the noble Lord to decide for himself.

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, the safety of children is paramount and whistleblowers often provide a very important service, but it is known that the then Secretary of State for Education had been informed that counterterrorism police had determined that the Trojan horse letter was bogus. None the less, he went ahead by citing the letter when instituting major reforms in Birmingham, through which teachers lost their jobs and schools were closed, and changes in national education policy resulted as well. Can the Minister say whether the Minister in question—who is now, of course, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up—has faced any consequences of those actions and whether the changes he instituted as a result will be revisited?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I do not think that the then Secretary of State or any subsequent Secretary of State should in any way apologise for their relentless focus on safeguarding children and the safety of those children. The alleged events and behaviours were confirmed in a number of independent reviews and an independent tribunal.