The former Education Secretary led the 'British Values' agenda. Flickr/Policy Exchange. Some rights reserved.
The new Conservative Government recently set out its legislative objectives for the coming Parliamentary session. Ominously, this includes consultation on the replacement of the Human Rights Act by a British Bill of Rights and an ‘Extremism Bill’ enabling employers to check whether an individual is an extremist and barring them from working with children. Standing behind these legislative initiatives is a moral panic over ‘British values’ and a perceived failure of some ethnic communities to endorse them.
According to information leaked to the Sunday Times, over 100 teachers in Birmingham currently face the prospect disciplinary action from the Government’s National College for Teaching and Leadership and possible barring from teaching for life (30 have been charged and more are expected to be charged in due course). This is unprecedented. In the past, disciplinary action has only been taken against teachers involved in inappropriate relationships with children, or having been subject to criminal charges. In 2010 it was suggested by the Prime Minister that membership of the BNP should be sufficient to disqualify a teacher, but so far no teacher has been barred on that ground.
