Labour now urged to intervene after its own councils ‘impose Islamic doctrine on schoolchildren’

The local authorities dishing out the advice include Kirklees, the council area that covers Batley Grammar School – where a teacher was forced into hiding after depicting the Prophet Mohammed in class.

The guidance, called “Sharing the Journey”, advises that some Muslim parents might be sensitive to the certain aspects of teaching art, dance, drama, music, physical education and religious studies.

It states that Islamic culture has produced abstract art, “three-dimensional figurative imagery of humans is considered idolatrous by some Muslims”.

Teachers have been warned that it is critical that children do not produce images of Jesus, the Prophet Mohammed or other figures considered to be prophets of Islam.

Now, Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott has demanded the Government take action.

In a latter to her Cabinet counterpart Bridget Phillipson, the Tory MP said the guidance was “not sensitivity”, but an “imposition of one religion’s doctrine onto every child’s education”.

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Ms Trott wrote: “The document itself states, correctly, that ‘respect for religious traditions should not undermine the law or requirement for all pupils to have a broad and balanced curriculum’.

“It is therefore extraordinary that the same document then proceeds to do precisely that.

“Tolerance should never mean abandoning our values. Schools should be teaching those shared values, not policing or censoring lessons.”

The Shadow Education Secretary called on the Ms Phillipson to “write to all relevant councils” to withdraw the guidance and to “review whether similar guidance exists in other local authority areas”.

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Ms Trott added: “Every child in this country has an equal entitlement to a broad and balanced education.

“That entitlement must not be quietly eroded by guidance that conflates cultural sensitivity with doctrinal compliance, nor shielded from scrutiny by a definition whose loose wording is already being used as a political weapon.”

The guidance was first produced in 2022 by councils in Leeds, Calderdale, Oldham and Wakefield, and was later circulated by other local authorities including Sefton in Lancashire and Tameside in Greater Manchester – it has since been reissued.

The introduction to the guidance says it is intended to promote understanding between different communities and support social cohesion – which has emerged as a priority for ministers.

But critics including Christian historian Tom Holland have voiced their incredulity at the advice.

“Can it REALLY now be an official Government diktat that children in primary school, say, are forbidden to draw Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden or the baby Jesus in the manger?” he asked.

“If it’s a Muslim tradition not to illustrate the biblical figures appropriated by Islam as prophets, there is also quite a strong Christian tradition of portraying biblical scenes in art – as will be more than clear to students when they go on trips to art galleries.”

And news of the guidance came mere days after Labour formally unveiled its “anti-Muslim hostility” definition on Monday.

Alongside the official definition, the Government also announced the creation of a dedicated “tsar” for tackling the “hostility” to the country’s Muslim population.

Ministers were warned the move risked creating a “chilling effect” on freedom of speech across Britain.

Lord Walney, the former Government extremism adviser, said: “I can understand why British Muslims want support in the face of rising intolerance but I am not convinced this will help given extensive hate crime laws that already exist and the fact that religion is already listed as an aggravating factors in assault.

“I am deeply concerned that Islamist extremists will use this new definition to deflect scrutiny from their quest to undermine our values and intimidate fellow Muslims.”

GB News has approached the Department for Education for comment.