Gilligan Flogs His Trojan Horse

Andrew “transcription error” Gilligan is keeping up his campaign to highlight what he clearly believes to be creeping Islamism in Birmingham’s schools: “Muslim extremists, and a worrying lesson for us all ... Activists attempting to 'Islamify’ state schools in Birmingham could try to launch a national campaign” he told in his last Telegraph article, flagged up to Zelo Street via an anonymous comment.

“Investigations by The Telegraph, separate to and in parallel with the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter, reveal that there is indeed an organised group of Muslim teachers, education consultants, school governors and activists dedicated to furthering what one of them describes as an ‘Islamising agenda’ in Birmingham’s schools. And [Razwan] Faraz should know: he is at the heart of it” he tells.

The “Trojan Horse” letter, as I noted recently, is suspected of being a fake. But Gilligan persists: “They convene, among other places, on WhatsApp, a messaging service, where they have a closed discussion group called ‘Educational Activists’. In their messages, all of which have been leaked to this newspaper, the activists describe their goals and tactics”.

Stop right there: those who know the Gilligan modus operandi of old will by now hear their bullshit detectors screaming long and loud. Yes, he goes on to quote a number of entries which support his contention, but for some reason, despite the ability of the Telegraph to reproduce them, we do not see the complete comment threads, with the context in which comments are made clearly shown.

And when Gilligan is involved, anything without a reliable citation is worthless: you could not trust this bloke any further than you could chuck him. Moreover, he seems unusually reluctant to pony up his evidence to Birmingham City Council, who are looking into the claims: “The city council are investigating claims that Islamic fundamentalists are employing dirty tricks campaigns against teachers to take over schools” reports the Birmingham Mail.

Why is Gilligan so reticent? Council leader Albert Bore may have the answer in this statement: “If these are the genuine concerns of a whistle-blower, we will afford the protection necessary to the investigation of those concerns. If however we find evidence that takes us to a motivation behind these claims which is not based on professional concern, we will act accordingly”.

There may be a genuine campaign behind the “Trojan Horse” letter. If so, the whistleblower needs to come forward. In the meantime, as Andrew Gilligan claims to have unearthed wrongdoing, then he too should turn over his find to the City Council so that action can be taken. One assumes this is his objective.

After all, it can’t be more dishonest shit-stirring. Or can it, Andy? Don’t be shy, now.