High court rejects girl's call to be allowedto prayat school

A high court decision to uphold a prayer ban at one of the highest-performing state schools in England has been welcomed by Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch, who described it as a "victory against activists trying to subvert our public institutions".

- Sally Weale

The case against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, which is famous for its strict discipline code, was brought by a Muslim pupil, known only as TTT in court proceedings, who claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom.

In a written judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Linden dismissed the pupil's arguments on all key grounds.

Commenting in a post on X, Badenoch, the equalities minister, said: "No pupil has the right to impose their views on an entire school community in this way. The Equality Act is a shield, not a sword and teachers must not be threatened into submission."

Her comments were criticised by a senior Muslim leader who accused her of sensationalising the case, while the Runnymede Trust, an independent race equality thinktank, warned the ruling set a dangerous precedent.

Also on X, the thinktank posted: "It targets Muslim students and cannot be removed from the ramping up of Prevent and recent govt extremism definition. No child should be policed for the peaceful practice of their faith."

The judgment followed a two-day hearing in January at the high court in London, which heard the prayer ban was introduced in March last year by the school's founder and former government social mobility tsar, Katharine Birbalsingh, after the school became the target of death and bomb threats over its approach to religious observance.