HC Deb 21 June 1988 vol 135 cc958-9
6. Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has now received a copy of the inquiry report concerning events at Burnage school, Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

I have now received a copy of the full Burnage inquiry report and of the legal advice Manchester city council has received. I am considering the implications of those documents carefully.

Mr. Bennett

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, while it is vital that all schools promote racial harmony and tolerance, the anti-racist, doctrinaire policies adopted by the Burnage school in Manchester and by some Labour local authorities elsewhere are in danger of alienating the vast majority of parents and pupils, and thus of being counter-productive?

Mr. Baker

What happened at the Burnage school was a very tragic episode, and anyone who reads the report cannot help but be moved by the tragic sequence of events. I agree that good race relations are not best served by the clumsy application of anti-racist policies. Mutual respect and tolerance must be the key pillars of any race relations policy.

Mr. Bradley

I hope that when the Secretary of State has considered the documents, he will publish them in the Library, so that everyone can read the report, and so that the unwarranted criticism of the school which has been made yet again in the House by the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett), can be put in its place. We may then have an opportunity to congratulate the school on the efforts that have been made over the past two years, and to congratulate the staff, governors and parents on their invaluable work in trying to enhance the school. Does the Secretary of State agree that the best way forward is to recognise the valuable work done by Manchester city council on race relations policies and their implementation in Manchester schools? I hope that he will support such policies and provide adequate resources to ensure that they are continued and extended in Manchester and throughout the country.

Mr. Baker

The hon. Gentleman asks me to publish the report, but it raises complex legal matters on which I am still receiving advice. I must bear in mind that the inquiry was not the same as the judicial public inquiry held in the case of the Zeebrugge and King's Cross disasters. It is not a question of a cover-up, but of where the public interest lies in relation to the rights of those individuals named in the report. I must take careful legal advice on that point.

Mr. Budgen

I remind my right hon. Friend that pernicious policies of reverse discrimination are wide-spread. When the local authority for Colton Hills schools in Wolverhampton wished to introduce the teaching of Punjabi to all children on a compulsory basis, and when some of the parents——

Mr. Speaker

Order. The question concerns Burnage school in Manchester.

Mr. Budgen

With great respect, Mr. Speaker, it is about the principle there.

Mr. Speaker

Order. With great respect, it is about events at Burnage school.

Mr. Budgen

Is it not the case, Mr. Speaker, that such events may recur elsewhere, for such policies are being opposed in many schools? When parents protest, they are rudely and roundly described as racist, in a way that is counter-productive.

Mr. Baker

Some of the report's conclusions comment on the application of anti-racist policies. However, the incidents mentioned there relate very much to Burnage school. There are other schools in the Manchester area where similar policies have been pursued, but not with such tragic consequences. I make it clear to my hon. Friend and to the House that there is no place in our schools for any manifestation of racial antagonism or intolerance. We are pursuing a range of measures to overcome racial disharmony.