How to deal with Islamist extremism is one of the great issues of our time. What has gone on in these Birmingham schools is a reminder of how real a threat it is to this country and how determined the proponents of this warped worldview are.
But before we turn to that question, a quick reflection on the politics of today’s events in the Commons: The row between Michael Gove and Theresa May over how to approach this issue resulted in the Education Secretary having to apologise and May having to jettison one of her special advisers. It was a major political embarrassment to the government. Labour tried to capitalise on this by having May appear before Gove’s statement on the Birmingham schools.
In a two and a quarter hours, though, Labour didn’t inflict anymore political danger on May and Gove.
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