Gove chose Clarke not, as the MCB implies, because he is "hostile to the British Muslim community", but because, as a former head of counter-terrorism, he understands the complex spectrum of Islam, ranging from its political variants to its purely spiritual ones. He knows that radicalisation does not inevitably follow from social and religious conservative Islam. 

But he also knows that if children are being educated in a more politicised environment that signals hostility to Western society and to the mores and attitudes of non-Muslims, one result can be that it makes it easier for Muslims — and especially impressionable young Muslims — to adopt a grievance-mongering "them and us" mindset, which portrays Muslims as one homogenous community under attack. That attitude can be the first step on a journey which can end with a desire to engage in terrorism. 

Tahir Alam has dismissed evidence from anonymous teachers who spoke to Clarke and Kershaw and suggests they were disgruntled "because they did not get a promotion". Clarke counters that they sought anonymity because the "levels of anxiety and indeed evident distress shown by some witnesses cannot be overstated".

A graphic illustration of the sort of distress that can be caused is provided by the sheer ruthlessness by which the Sikh head teacher of Saltley School was pushed out last year by hardline Muslim governors just 16 months after taking office.

Balwant Bains says he experienced the classic Trojan Horse treatment to wear down and ultimately remove a head teacher resistant to Islamising the school. Within three months a campaign of "harassment, bullying and intimidation" began. Bains says he had to write a 300-page document for every governor because the chair of governors demanded that he justify every decision he had made so far. As one teacher told me: "There's no way you can run a school in the inner city and keep your eye on the ball when you've got such a lot of invasion of your time." During an Ofsted inspection, the governors complained that under Bains academic standards had declined. In fact, the GCSE results were the best in the school's history.

Appealing to Birmingham City Council for help, Bains said the governors were making "decisions not in the best interest of the school and the pupils but in the interest of relatives and friends of the school". He urged the council to dissolve the governing body "so that I can get some sort of grip on my school which is now being influenced internally and externally". But Birmingham didn't.

In June 2013, a Muslim boy brandishing a knife demanded money from six other children. A non-Muslim boy had hidden the knife although he took no part in the threats. Bains decided to exclude the Muslim boy permanently and the non-Muslim boy for a term. 

The governors considered this to be evidence of racism and "Islamophobia" by Bains, and ordered him to reinstate the Muslim boy and to read out to staff a letter suggesting his decision had been motivated by prejudice. In effect Bains was required to humiliate himself in front of his own staff. When he refused, the letter appeared on the school noticeboard. Staff divided between supporters of Bains and opponents who thought he was "racist basically. He's Islamophobic." Prior to a demonstration which Bains says was organised by governors, a Facebook post texted to children read: "Saltley School's Head teacher is racist. He suspended a Muslim pupil and does not suspend non-Muslims." A Twitter war erupted, with the all-white senior leadership team also being accused of racism because they supported Bains.