Reform UK’s Southampton branch has called for an immediate halt to the ‘Schools of Sanctuary’ scheme in the city, claiming that schools are being used as platforms to promote political ideologies rather than focusing on core education.
Sam Wright, spokesperson for Reform UK Southampton, argues that what were once institutions for teaching essential skills and culture have become, in his view, “political battlegrounds.” Wright reflects on his own school experience, saying, “The preaching of globalist liberal ideologies such as Net Zero and DEI were front and centre. Indeed, I remember the ostracising and visceral disdain for the minority who dared question such panaceas.”
He voiced concern over what he describes as the growing encroachment of politics within primary and secondary schools. Of particular concern, he says, is the influence of charities, unions, and NGOs, which Wright claims are “spreading ideology as fact and reason.” He singled out the charity ‘City of Sanctuary’, which he says is linked to at least ten ‘Schools of Sanctuary’ in Southampton.
City of Sanctuary describes its mission as “building a movement of welcome across the UK.” While Wright acknowledges that support for genuine asylum seekers and refugees is a noble goal, he argues that the initiative goes much further. He points to the programme’s encouragement for schools to “challenge misconceptions about people seeking sanctuary” and to “connect and collaborate with local charities, organisations and institutions, and community groups to grow and strengthen our shared movement of welcome and solidarity with people seeking safety.”
Wright warns: “Be under no illusion—the perpetuation and indoctrination of a biased open borders and DEI ideology to impressionable children without balance or nuance is insidiously wrong and undemocratic. Especially consider the distinction between mostly fighting-age, male illegal migrants making crossings over the channel on small boats, the abuse and overstaying of visas and the false asylum claimants, all of whom should be labelled as ‘economic migrants’.”
Reform UK Southampton concludes with a clear message: “Get politics out of children’s schools and back to teaching English and Maths.”
Spot on. Concentration on important key skills will create adults who are able to research, and give them the freedom to work things out for themselves.
Totally correct. Schools are no place for politics.