‘Islamist takeover’ of Birmingham schools: what the letter says

EXTREMIST Muslims are alleged to have developed a “tried and tested” plan that has allowed them to take over non-faith schools in Birmingham by replacing headteachers with people who will run the schools on strict Islamic principles. Birmingham City Council is investigating the affair.

The claims are contained in an unsigned, undated letter purportedly written by a Birmingham Islamist to an accomplice in Bradford. The letter, which was passed to Birmingham City Council late last year and has been seen by the Birmingham Mail, claims that takeovers have already happened in four Birmingham schools and says it would be simple to transfer ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ to Bradford.

“Operation Trojan Horse has been very carefully thought through and is tried and tested within Birmingham, implementing it in Bradford will not be difficult for you,” the letter reads.

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The tactics involve identifying schools with large Muslim intakes and poor Ofsted reports.

Sympathetic parents should be used to foment discontent at the school gate, telling fellow parents that the school is “corrupting their children with sex education, teaching about homosexuals, making their children pray Christian prayers and mixed swimming and sport”.

Muslims should also be encouraged to join the target school’s board of governors.

The tactics are “totally invisible to the naked eye and allow us to operate under the radar”, according to the letter’s author. “I have detailed the plan we have in Birmingham and how well it has worked and you will see how easy the whole process is to get the headteacher out and our own person in.”

The author claims to have already caused “a great amount of organised disruption” in Birmingham and says that they now have four schools under their control - Adderley Primary, Saltley School, Park View School and Regents Park Community Primary School – with plans to take over more.

The Regents Park headteacher and her deputy resigned last year following allegations of cheating in the primary school’s exams, while the headteacher of Saltley resigned last year after an Ofsted report that called his relationship with governors “dysfunctional”.

The author of the letter appears to recognise the underhand nature of the tactics, writing: “Whilst sometimes the practices we use may not seem the correct way to do things you must remember this is a ‘Jihad’ and as such all means possible to win the war is acceptable.”