Lucy Powell is in the Commons responding to a new report on antisemitism in schools. After defending the education unions, the Education Secretary said:
“Fear of reprisal, fear of media attention, political attention, and others around being politically impartial is what has led many school leaders and teachers, and this was testimony we heard time and time again, to fear tackling these issues head-on.
When they hear some of these age-old tropes in the classroom, they’re not going into those debates, for fear of reprisal, for fear of not being supported.
David’s review was very clear that schools and colleges absolutely should be a place where issues can be debated, challenged, discussed and brought alive. So we do have to get this balance right, and if anything I would say the balance is too far the other way. The fear of remaining politically impartial is actually hampering our teachers and school leaders from doing what they need to do.”
Mind-blowing…
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”