Is it wise to combat Islamic extremism in schools by sending in Tory extremists Theresa May and Michael Gove?
![Extremists: Theresa May (left) and Michael Gove. [Image: BBC.]](http://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/140605extremism.jpg)
Extremists: Theresa May (left) and Michael Gove. [Image: BBC.]
These are government ministers who most closely share the extremist attitudes that the ‘Trojan Horse’ school governors are said to have; their methods are the same, even if their aims are different.
Consider this. The claims made about the Birmingham school are that:
- A ‘Trojan Horse’ (stealth) takeover of schools in Birmingham, by Islamic extremists, has taken place.
- Governors were installed who undermined and then replaced school leaders with staff who would be more sympathetic to their agenda.
- Boys and girls have been separated.
- Assemblies put forward extremist Islamic views.
- Other religions are downgraded.
Now let’s look at Theresa May, who:
- Took part in a backdoor (stealth) takeover of the UK government after the Conservative Party failed to win a majority in the 2010 general election.
- Wants to repeal the Human Rights Act as it protects UK citizens against some of her favourite policies:
The duty to refrain from unlawful killing, investigate suspicious deaths and prevent foreseeable loss of life runs against the results of the Coalition’s changes to incapacity/disability benefit assessment which led to the unnecessary deaths of 73 people per week between January and November 2011.
The prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labour is contrary to the government’s mandatory work activity schemes.
The right to a fair trial contradicts the changes the government has been making to Legal Aid.
The right to respect for one’s privacy, family life, home and correspondence runs against the “snooper’s charter” that Mrs May wished to impose.
And so on. The Tories would dearly love to remove your rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association, as that means they could outlaw this blog and abolish trade unions.
- Authorised a plan to use a fleet of advertising vans telling illegal immigrants to “go home”, which split the London communities in which they were used and led to false accusations against British citizens.
- The phrase “go home” on the vans attracted criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority as it was a reminder of an extremist racist slogan.
And Michael Gove:
- Took part in the backdoor (stealth) takeover of the UK government.
- Has imposed an army of independent advisors on his education department, to overrule the opinions of expert civil servants, grind down their morale and force them out of their jobs.
- Planned to give a Bible to every state school in the country, clearly implying an intention to assert the supremacy of Christianity over every other religion practised in the UK, with others downgraded.
They’re all as bad as each other.
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Isn’t this exactly what Gove’s free schools was supposed to promote?
Some of his Free Schools went that way, certainly.
Mike, what do you mean by the phrase “took part in the backdoor (stealth) takeover of the UK government”?
Did not, in 2010, with his party not holding an overall majority the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown decline to form a minority government and was unable to enter into a workable coalition one? Accordingly, did he not then resign as PM and, as protocol dictates, nominate to the monarch the name of an indıvıdual the monarch should invite to be hıs or her Prıie Minister and form hıs or her government…clearly with the the Conservatives being the major party after the election it was something which David Cameron was able to do with a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
There are many countries round the world where government is by a coalition; this is not unusual and, indeed, is democracy at work. Whether one likes it is, of course, another matter but maybe I mısunderstand you..
We may not know for some time the actual circumstances in which the Conservatives sidled into Downing Street, but we do know that they made a deal with the Liberal Democrats in March 2010, meaning that talks between Labour and the LDs in May 2010 were pointless; the LDs had already entered an arrangement with the Conservatives – and all behind closed doors.
I stand by my words.
Thanks for that explanatıon but if you do not know the actual circumstances, the content of any alleged “deal” and as pre election discussions between parties are not uncommon – Labour and the LıbDems are, I believe,currently lookıng at post 2015 electıon coalıtıon possıbilities ın the event of another hung parlıament – what is your evidence for stealth?
Given also that even if Brown had gained the support of the LibDems he would still have had insufficient numbers to achieve a coalition majorıty; his position was untenable and he knew ıt and whatever agreements before the election became
irrelevant.
Stand by your words, if you wish, but I beg to dıffer!
Oh, no – we know what went down in the deal because a Tory MP blew the whistle on it after the election. It’s all in a Vox Political article, so you can go and look for it.
Brown could have formed a minority government with the Lib Dems, meaning legislation would need to win the approval of the minor parties or some Conservatives. It would have to have had broad appeal and, you know what? That might just have been in the ‘National Interest’.
More so than the slime that leaked into office in May 2010, at least.
So no – not irrelevant. Entirely to the point.
Thanks again Mike – But Brown didn’t and, as I said, we beg to differ – not so much about the role of the individual politıcal parties but, ıt seems, what is and is not true democracy. Thanks for the exchange.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog and commented:
May and Gove have also been criticised for their own perceived extremism in their desire to force a secular agenda on the schools caught up in this affair. There was an article in the ‘I’ newspaper yesterday suggesting that the issues were not as clear-cut, nor the schools as extreme as has been alleged. The article went further to suggest that May and Gove’s intervention and their desire to enforce a secular agenda may actually be making the situation worse.