Last week the Government ordered schools in England not to use resources with pupils which have expressed a desire to end or curtail capitalism.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance involved in setting the relationship, sex and health curriculum categorised anti-capitalism as an “extreme political stance.”
John McDonnell said that it symbolised growing “authoritarianism” within the governing Conservative party.
McDonnell said: “On this basis it will be illegal to refer to large tracts of British history and politics including the history of British socialism, the Labour Party and trade unionism, all of which have at different times advocated the abolition of capitalism.
“This is another step in the culture war and this drift towards extreme Conservative authoritarianism is gaining pace and should worry anyone who believes that democracy requires freedom of speech and an educated populace.”
Left-wing views
Now an ex-cabinet Minister has said that left-wing views being pushed by teachers in the classrooms could be putting working class pupils off their studies.
Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey told a panel event at the Blue Collar Conservatism conference in Mansfield that pupils were being “overly indoctrinated” in learning settings.
She said: “I would say for a long period of time, I would never have known what my teacher thought, politically or in any other way.
“They wouldn’t have tried to indoctrinate me.
Indoctrinating
“I am now hearing that people aren’t teaching you what they need to – they’re overly indoctrinating you, it’s gone political, people are saying it has gone to the left, they’re forcing ideas on you.
“And that I think needs to be removed from the whole educational system – a left-learning bias or an educational bias in the whole of the education platform.”
The Tory MP for Tatton added: “The reason I bring that up, when we talk again about white working class lads maybe being disengaged, I’m thinking about what was the vote in Mansfield? What was the vote in Ashfield? It was a very big Brexit vote.
“And I’m thinking to myself, are people thinking, ‘Why do I want to be engaged in a classroom if somebody doesn’t think like me, doesn’t vote like me, and you know what, they’re now telling me what is it and questioning my belief or my family’s beliefs’.
“And that’s why I think you need to remove all of that from the classroom.”
In a later question and answer session, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said “political impartiality” needed to be respected in the classroom.
Impartiality
Mr Williamson, who was not asked about the current Covid-19 cases spike at UK universities in a pre-recorded interview with Ms McVey, said: “We’ve got to ensure there is political impartiality right across the spectrum.
“Educational organisations are state funded and you’ve got to ensure that you do have that impartiality and that you’ve got to make sure there is a broad spectrum of views.
“I’m sure you’ve spoken about it, I’ve spoken about it, of the importance of freedom of speech, of making sure people aren’t ‘no platformed’.”
The Cabinet minister said the situation of “no platforming” mainstream politicians “shouldn’t be tolerated” in higher education, calling the decision by an Oxford University society in March to cancel a talk by former home secretary Amber Rudd “crazy”.
Related – Outrage as Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson vanishes during University crisis
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