No Birmingham 'Trojan House' schools plot, just 'new communities' looking for Islamic education

Birmingham City Council's terrifyingly PC Chief Executive Mark Rogers who pre-empted the investigation into 'Trojan Horse' allegations of an Islamist takeover of some of his schools by saying there was no plot, has spoken of his PC philosophy to a local blogger.

He spoke to the Chamberlain  files, http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/04/trojan-horse-progress-update/ but steadfastly refused to use the word Islam, or Muslim, preferring the euphemism (in this case) of 'new communities'

Bizzarely he said any problems were just about 'new communities' looking for same type of education  they received at home.  As very few girls get any education in Pakistan, for example, it's hard to know what planet he's speaking from.

Here are some of his thoughts from the Chamberlain files that should give us no confidence in any Trojan Horse investigations.

 http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/04/trojan-horse-progress-update/

  1. 'Issues in some schools', not radicalisation.
  2. “New communities” looking for the same education in the country they came from.
  3. Certain “customs and practices” not always fit in with the national curriculum.
  4. Asking “legitimate questions” about the type of schooling they wanted for their children and how that could fit in with Britain's “liberal education system”.
  5. Letter that sparked all this off almost certainly spurious. But it does relate to important issues dealing with the different expectations that communities have.
  6. Letter reflects concerns and potential issues, not 'narrative of historical fact.
  7. “I don’t believe there is a conspiracy. Conspiracy is such a damaging and loaded word. Easy to use, and difficult to prove.
  8. “We have still got more work to do to understand what is going on but this is not a new issue. We see issues like this in the north of England where there are new communities.”
  9. Need to be careful to delineate between individuals and communities who might seek an educational environment conforming to the prevailing culture and customs in the countries they come from. We should distinguish that from radicalisation. These are two very different things.
  10. “This is not about radicalising young people. It is a different set of issues in my mind.
  11. “What we may be seeing are some individuals from communities who are asking questions about the kinds of custom and practices they want to see and whether they can fit in with the prevailing cultures and customs and practices. This is not about some radicalisation agenda.”
  12. “We remain committed to build trusting relationships and joint working across the city so that no person or group is excluded and we can all flourish together, enjoying, sharing and celebrating the richness brought to this city by its diversity.”

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