Page 1 of Teacher suspended from school for supporting the BNP

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Whatever happened to free speech and political opinions, even if it is the BNP? :/


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Is this all legal ? Can the school suspend someone based on their beliefs or opinions ? I`m not a fan of the BNP by any means, but I do value the right to have an opinion.

no..no..no..no... you two don`t get it.. this person would have to be a derren brown to have the will power to stop his views from spilling over into the classroom... You have to be sooooo impartial when it comes to teaching... yes.. other teacher`s may have the same political views.. but how many would stand as a candidate?...

and i hold this view over all political allegiences.. not just the vile putrid filth that is the BNP

I know there is the arguement of free speech but really we never had it in the first place due to the Obscenity Act (can`t remember which year).
I walked into a pub the other day n there was a poster which was advertising a BNP meeting, and it had the slogan of `get all paki`s out`.
This is obviously their attitude and I can understand why the school would not want a teacher of this attitude teaching ethnic minority children.

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Seems that they are concerned about the disruption the teacher`s campaign is causing to the pre-exam build up. The guy`s a contractor too, which tends to confer less employment rights than permanent salaried staff.

These are only the politically valid reasons of course. I suspect the governors of the school are v.unhappy at having a member of staff that supports and allegedly extreme right-wing party bordering on the Fascist, putting themself forward for local Government.

Just goes to prove that teachers just don`t have enough work to do already IMHO! ;) :)


SN

I wouldn`t want this bloke teaching my kids, but the question remains - is this legal ? What has he done that is legally wrong ? Are the BNP an illegal party now ?

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Can the school suspend someone based on their beliefs or opinions ?

Could very tenuously be classed as discrimination on grounds of Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003, which kicked in late last year, although political beliefs on their own in isolation are not covered.

So, to answer your question, yes maybe - it`s still a very grey area of case law, and will build and build. No doubt his union would take that stance, anyhow. It would go to an Employment Tribunal, and like all new employment legislation, is likely to go to appeal (possibly even to Europe) and will take some time to resolve.

That`s my bet, anyway.

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Clayts, Moderator, DVD Reviewer
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I think the fact that he supports the BNP suggests he has very strong views on the subject and will almost certainly bring it into the classroom.

Free speech simply shouldn`t be allowed in the liberal sense at school. Kids are as impressionable as any Daily Mail reader, and need to be allowed to build their own opinions rather than have some racist drivel shoved down their throats.

ah.. that geordie intelligence just shines through.. big fan.. cheers..

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Free speech simply shouldn`t be allowed in the liberal sense at school. Kids are as impressionable as any Daily Mail reader, and need to be allowed to build their own opinions rather than have some racist drivel shoved down their throats.

So, although we haven`t heard a scrap of evidence that proves he`s spouting his political views to his students, we should `play it safe` and regard him as being guilty until proven innocent, should we? Do you have any idea how sinister that sounds?

This item was edited on Thursday, 29th April 2004, 00:02