Katharine Birbalsingh questions level of legal aid for pupil who challenged prayer ban
By Dominic Penna and Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph:
Head teacher makes comments after High Court ruled her school’s policy was lawful and justified.
Katharine Birbalsingh has questioned the level of legal aid awarded to a Muslim pupil who lost a court battle over her school’s prayer ban.
Ms Birbalsingh, known as Britain’s strictest head teacher, won a legal challenge brought by the pupil, who claimed the prayer restrictions at Michaela Community School in Brent, north-west London, were discriminatory.
The High Court ruled that the prayer ban was lawful and justified as “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims” of the school.
Commenting on the judgment, Ms Birbalsingh said: “Can it be right for a family to receive £150,000 of taxpayer-funded legal aid to bring a case like this?”
A spokesman for lawyers supporting the pupil said the legal aid costs were “a fraction” of the sum quoted by Ms Birbalsingh.
Senior Tory MPs also criticised the use of legal aid to fund the pupil’s claim.
‘Legal aid is not there to fund lawfare’
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the MP for North East Somerset, said: “Legal aid is there to protect people who couldn’t otherwise get proper representation for cases that must have a seriousness threshold.
“This is particularly important for people charged with criminal offences and for those involved in civil litigation where they are at risk of some obvious wrong.
“Legal aid is not there to fund politics by legal means, legal aid is not there to fund lawfare. If people want to fight political battles in the courts, they should fund them themselves.”
Read here (£)
Read also: What does the court ruling against the right to pray mean for religious practices in schools? by John Rentoul, Independent
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