The article explores the unexpected meeting between Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of Michaela Community School, known for her strict disciplinary approach and outspoken criticism of Labour policies. The author questions the wisdom of Phillipson inviting Birbalsingh, given her history of attacking Labour and her strong stance against the government's attempts to revise academies legislation.
'Britain's strictest headmistress' was invited to Whitehall this week. Foxes have been invited into chicken coops with a clearer rationaleNo Labour politician with a touch of nous would invite Birbalsingh round and provide her with first-person content for her latest anti-Labour polemic A friend was once responsible for advising a government minister on a recurring issue of judgement.
“If people already loathe you,” she counselled, “all you are doing is inviting them to take their photo at Whitehall, tell the world they’ve explained to your face why you’re wrong, and then announce you didn’t listen properly.” My friend was a poor democrat, but an excellent spad. Birbalsingh, who likes to be called “Britain’s strictest headmistress”, is a prolific social media user and a fierce opponent of Phillipson’s attempts to rollback Gove’s academies revolution, the Cameron-era project which created a new generation of state-funded schools funded directly by the Department of Education and free from the red tape of local authorities.
For Conservatives rightly concerned by rising cases of extremist organisers attempting to intimidate teachers – a teacher from Batley in West YorkshireWhat Katharine Birbalsingh is not, however, is a cross-party alliance builder. She’s more likely to be found inviting Jordan Peterson to speak at her school, or, as in this week’s, denouncing Labour ministers for “Marxist leanings”.
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