POLL OF THE DAY: Should the Batley school teacher receive compensation? YOUR VERDICT
Batley Grammar School saw crowds of protesters gather outside in the days following
PA
Batley Grammar School has hit back at a Government report on extremism in the UK after a teacher at their school was forced to go into hiding after showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in class.
The report, written by Dame Sara Khan, claimed the incident has “not just impacted him, it's impacted his family and his children”.
Khan told GB News on Tuesday: “As I write in the report, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of what happened to him at the time of the incident, which is exactly three years ago today.”
Warning that rising hate crime could “erode our freedoms”, Khan said the Batley school incident was “totally and utterly unacceptable”.
POLL OF THE DAY: Should the Batley school teacher receive compensation? YOUR VERDICT
GB News
However, a letter responding to the report seen by GB News, said the school felt “disappointment” over the report’s findings.
Batley Grammar School's Chief Executive Officer Sam Vickers and Headteacher John Hughes sent the letter to all parents of pupils at the school, and said: “This disappointment is because we do not recognise so much of what is in it, because we do not recognise the description of what's happened, and because we do not recognise the characterisation of the school and our community.”
In an exclusive poll for GB News membership readers, an overwhelming majority (99 per cent) of the 713 voters thought the teacher should receive compensation, while just one per cent thought they shouldn't.
A GoFundMe page set up by a close friend of the former teacher in 2021 following the incident, claimed the lecturer was “thrown under the bus”, was “failed” by the school, and was given no form of compensation from the school or the Government.
Protesters gathered outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire, where the teacher was suspendedPAThe fundraising page has almost raised £100,000 after a drive by GB News viewers.
GB News’ Martin Daubney said he is “incredibly emotional” to see the growing support for the teacher and has called for “justice” to be served.
Daubney told Batley Grammar School: “This is one that we will not let go on. I think that teacher deserves compensation, justice and protection.”
Batley Grammar School has responded to a government report on their 2021 incident, GB News can revealPA / GB NewsAsked if the teacher needs more support from central Government, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: “I am not aware of any specific measures in their case but clearly the situation they have experienced is unacceptable and it is partly why we are setting out plans to tackle extremism.”
The spokesperson was then asked if the teacher should get support from the council or the school.
They replied: “Absolutely - whilst people have the right to protest it is unacceptable for any group or individuals to set out to disrupt the provision of education or to intimidate staff or students.”
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