LONDON: British Home Secretary Theresa May is to be questioned by a committee of MPs about her role in the public feud with the education secretary, Michael Gove, about allegations of extremism in Birmingham schools.
Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs committee, said there was a strong case for the committee also taking evidence from Fiona Cunningham, who resigned as May’s special adviser on Saturday. A Downing Street inquiry had determined Cunningham should take the blame for a Home Office broadside against Gove intended to show he had ignored warnings about extremists in schools in 2010.
At the same time Gove was forced to write letters of apology to Charles Farr, head of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, and to David Cameron for his role in the row that infuriated the prime minister because it overshadowed last week’s Queen’s speech, made the government look dysfunctional and implied that his ministers are increasingly preoccupied with the identity of his successor as leader of the party.
Vaz said: “I have written to the home secretary for a full explanation of what has happened. The committee will in due course question her about these matters. There is a strong case to hear from Ms Cunningham herself as to why she has resigned.”
In a joint letter to Cameron yesterday, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, and Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, said Gove and May had both broken the section in the ministerial code saying that cabinet secrets should not be revealed and that, given that Gove had apologised, it was particularly important for Cameron to say whether May had also broken the code, and whether she would be apologising.
The row started when Gove used a private lunch at the Times, where he used to work as a journalist, to criticise the Home Office for what he believes is its failure to take a robust stance against Muslim extremists. In response, Cunningham, who is in a relationship with Farr, briefed journalists that Gove was at fault. On Wednesday, the Home Office also posted on its website a letter from May to Gove criticising him for not responding to warnings about extremism in schools in 2010. May has not commented in public on the row.
The Guardian
