London Primary school teacher is banned from working with children for telling a Muslim pupil that Britain is a Christian country
A primary school teacher in London was banned from working with children after telling a Muslim pupil that “Britain is still a Christian state.”
The incident, which occurred after the teacher reprimanded students for washing their feet in the boys’ lavatory sinks, led to a referral to the local safeguarding board and a police hate crime investigation, although the latter was later dropped.
The safeguarding officer concluded the teacher’s remarks were hurtful and caused emotional harm to the child, resulting in the ban.
This week, Jamie Michael, a former Royal Marine, was barred from working with children after posting a Facebook video protesting against illegal migrants. He was charged with inciting racial hatred after describing some migrants as “scumbags” and “psychopaths” in a 12-minute video posted on Facebook following the murders of three children in Southport.
He was cleared by a jury after just 17 minutes, but his local safeguarding board, which is responsible by law for protecting vulnerable children, has ruled that he is not “suitable” to work with youngsters, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. As a result, the Football Association of Wales barred him from coaching his daughter’s team following a private meeting with the local authority’s safeguarding officer and South Wales Police.
Now, a teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been banned from working with children.
The teacher was suspended in March 2024 and subsequently dismissed by the school. He was informed in April 2024 that he had been referred to the safeguarding board and the Metropolitan Police. A senior detective from the Metropolitan Police’s child abuse investigation team also became involved.
The police investigation was dropped. But the safeguarding officer concluded he had made hurtful comments about Islam and that the child had been subject to emotional harm and banned him from working with children. The teacher successfully appealed the ban and is now working part-time at a school outside London. He is now suing the local authority with support from the Free Speech Union. The Telegraph reported:
In his legal claim against the local authority, lawyers for the teacher pointed out the school was a non-faith school and that prayers had been informally banned from the playground – and, by extension, that included washing feet in the sinks – and confined to a prayer room set aside for the purpose.
Teacher banned after telling Muslim child that Britain is Christian country, The Telegraph, 8 December 2025
Lord Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, criticised the decision, stating that the teacher was penalised for stating a fact about England’s national religion, Anglicanism.
“Things have reached a pretty pass in this country if a teacher can be branded a safeguarding risk because he says something that’s incontestably true. If he’d claimed that Islam is the official religion of England, even though that’s not true, I doubt he would have got into any trouble,” Lord Young said.
In the video below, Jeremy Kyle asks Charlie Rowley his thoughts on the story. Kyle begins: “A teacher has been banned from working with kids after telling a Muslim child that Britain is a Christian state, which has led me to ask whether we’re allowed to be a Christian state anymore. Because we’re a Christian country, because we can’t fly our flag, and now apparently it’s offensive if we say we’re Christian. What are your thoughts on this, Charlie Rowley?”
The teacher is stating a fact, Rowley said. “This is a country that has a monarch who is the head of the Church of England. We are a Christian country. There is nothing wrong with saying that. And so, whoever has felt offended in any way, I think the problem lies at their doorstep and at their feet” rather than the teacher’s.
