65% of British people believe hardline Muslim groups have been deliberately attempting to take over schools in Birmingham – but only 13% mostly blame the government

Theresa May and Michael Gove became embroiled in a row this week over who is to blame for alleged Islamic extremism in Birmingham schools. After papers reported that Mr Gove thought there was reluctance in the Home Office to tackle extremism unless it becomes terrorism, a letter Mrs May had written to Mr Gove was published on the Home Office website, suggesting that responsibility fell on the Department for Education. One Home Office source put it bluntly: "The Department for Education is responsible for schools, the Home Office is not."

A new YouGov survey finds that while 65% of people believe that hardline Muslim groups have been trying to take over schools in Brimingham and just 7% think the allegations are wrong; only 13% blame the government.

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32% primarily blame the Muslim activists themselves, and 30% believe blame lies somewhere in Birmingham’s local government: 10% blame Birmingham City Council, 15% blame the governors of the school involved, 5% blame the headteachers.

Michael Gove has now denied being “at war” with the Home Secretary over her office’s anti-extremism strategy, and says Theresa May is doing a “fantastic job”. The claims that Birmingham schools are being targeted by extremists centre around a letter discovered in March detailing how a plan known as “Operation Trojan Horse” could install governors and school staff sympathetic to their religious agenda. An Anglican governor at one of the schools involved said, however, that this was a media-generated “frenzy”.

See the full poll results