The Education Secretary has said she will not rule out further action following claims a Bristol school “may have been intimidated into cancelling a visit” from their local MP who is Jewish.
Damien Egan was reportedly prevented from visiting Bristol Brunel Academy in his Bristol North East constituency after intervention from pro-Palestinian activists.
Bridget Phillipson said: “What happened to my colleague Damien Egan is shocking and completely unacceptable.
“A Jewish MP’s visit to a school in his own constituency was stopped from going ahead.
“Be in no doubt; no MP should ever be barred from doing their job because of their faith or background.
“Our schools must be places of safety and inclusion – not exclusion.
“My department has been in direct contact with Ofsted and I welcome their urgent inspection and look forward to their findings, I will not rule out further action.”
The schools watchdog inspected the school on Thursday after reports of the visit being cancelled.
Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said in a statement: “I was concerned to learn that a school may have been intimidated into cancelling a visit from their local MP.
“I am troubled by the message this sends to children – especially children from the Jewish community.
“Those of us privileged enough to be working in education have a professional and moral duty to stand against discrimination.”
After considering the evidence, inspectors concluded an inspection was warranted and were at the school on Thursday, Sir Martyn said.
A spokesperson for the Cabot Learning Federation, which runs the school, said: “We take our responsibilities to educate young people about British values extremely seriously, which is why we invited Mr Egan to speak to our students in the first place.
“Whilst we took the decision to postpone the visit due to concerns about student safety and the disruption to their education from the planned protest, a date for the rescheduled visit had already been confirmed by Mr Egan’s office.
“This was long before any of the most recent concerns were raised.”
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said the case was “very serious, very concerning” and added that all MPs “should be able to visit anywhere in their constituency, schools or other places, without fear of antisemitism”.
The Prime Minister added on Wednesday: “We’re providing more funding for security and support we’re putting in across the country, and we will be holding those to account who have prevented this visit to this school.”
Communities Secretary Steve Reed mentioned the cancellation while appearing at the Jewish Labour Movement conference on Sunday, describing it as “an absolute outrage”.
Sir Martyn said he is grateful to the school for its openness in engaging with Ofsted inspectors.
