The former chief inspector of schools had to be protected by two bodyguards after being “threatened and intimidated” during his investigation into the influence of Islamists on Birmingham schools.
Sir Michael Wilshaw said he needed “two heavies” accompanying him at taxpayers’ expense after Ofsted became concerned for his safety and that of his family.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, he told how he was screamed at in a public meeting, threatened on social media and accused of being an Islamophobe as he led an inquiry into whether schools in the city were coming under Islamist influence in the so-called Trojan Horse plot.
Wilshaw felt “really bitter” about his treatment, which he is making public for the first time. He said that “political correctness at the Department for Education [DfE]” had stopped — and was still stopping — ministers effectively intervening in failing or illegal schools, including Islamic schools. Even though more than 291 illegal schools have been identified and 38 warning letters issued by inspectors, no owners have yet been prosecuted. [The Times (£)] Read more
