Is this the mother of all calling out - Katherine Birbalsingh

[DramaFatigue]

Katherine Birbalsingh has done the mother of all calling out and I can't help but sit here with my jaw on the kitchen table in awe.

She has written a 4-page open letter to Sir Kerr Starmer calling out Jess Phillip's behaviour online. Whilst I don't always agree with KB's methods of the school she runs, I do think that Jess Phillips behaviour towards her is shocking and unbefitting of someone who could be running the country. JP should resign TBH.

https://news.sky.com/story/headteacher-katharine-birbalsingh-brands-labour-mp-jess-phillips-social-media-posts-racist-and-bullying-12913139

Oh - and she blocked the person who mentioned her mistake about "Aslan" and called him of racist behaviour

I suppose the problem with writing a 4-page essay instead a short, precise single-page complaint, is that there’s much more chance of making stupid lazy mistakes that others can use to delegitimise the whole letter. Facts and nothing but facts, not 4 pages of attention-seeking grievances sent on behalf of the whole school, after an needless and unprofessional personal Twitter spat.

I am sure schools have policies about this kind of thing.
The school has lots of very detailed policies.
MCS-Behaviour-Policy-September-2022.pdf (michaela.education)

"Heads of Year might sometimes deem it necessary and appropriate to conduct investigations into pupils’ behaviour in the case of suspected bullying or misbehaviour outside of school. Heads of Year reserve the right to ask pupils to show them social media accounts on their phone or any online activity which might contribute to the progress of the investigation. This does not count as a confiscation and pupils can expect their phones to be returned to them on conclusion of the investigation unless they have been found to be involved in bullying or inappropriate social media activity. In this case the phone will be confiscated as per the policy outlined in section E1. Any pupil who refuses to cooperate with the investigation will be placed in the Referral Centre"

I wonder if they are allowed to use the word "Hypocrite" to a teacher?

Heh, excellent. I wonder if anyone is hastily rewriting the “use of headed paper” policy?

cakeorwine
Oh - and she blocked the person who mentioned her mistake about "Aslan" and called him of racist behaviour

I can't read his tweets in full - where is the original exchange?

Although I recognise him as the guy who exaggerated the number of people at the People's Vote march and the guy who 'engineered' confusion with his vote in the EU elections so he could have a tale to tell on polling day. He is an occasional writer for New Statesman, inews, Byline Times...

And her complaints policy

Complaints-Policy-September-2022.pdf (michaela.education)

Unreasonably persistent complaints

Most complaints raised will be valid, and therefore we will treat them seriously. However, a complaint may become unreasonable if the person:
• Has made the same complaint before, and it’s already been resolved by following the school’s complaints procedure
• Makes a complaint that is obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific, defamatory or repetitive
• Knowingly provides false information • Insists on pursuing a complaint that is unfounded, or out of scope of the complaints procedure
• Pursues a valid complaint, but in an unreasonable manner e.g., refuses to articulate the complaint, refused to co-operate with this complaints procedure, or insists that the complaint is dealt with in ways that are incompatible with this procedure and the time frames it sets out
• Changes the basis of the complaint as the investigation goes on
• Makes a complaint designed to cause disruption, annoyance or excessive demands on school time
• Seeks unrealistic outcomes, or a solution that lacks any serious purpose or value

cakeorwine
Lots of speculation, inference and lies in the letter

KB accused JP of bullying - I think that comes across quite clearly in JP's tweets.

Here you go.

https://twitter.com/sturdyalex/status/1675448863958913025?s=61&t=U51Ei5mR4NNC__n1uWi7Gw

She misread tweets and had her own unconscious bias based on that misreading.

She has spent the last few days on GB News, Talk TV. Times Radio - having chats and accusing JP. Friendly articles in the media.

None of them pulling her up on the mistakes she has made in her letter or challenging it.

Read into that what you will.

cakeorwine
She misread tweets

I haven't misread JP's tweets - looks like bullying to me.

Why do you think it looks like bullying?

The trouble is KB did lie, the times in her screenshots are not when the screenshots were taken, they are the times when the tweets were sent.

How she's not been challenged on that I have no idea.

How she's not been challenged on that I have no idea

Anyone would think GB News and other certain media outlets had their own biases!!

cakeorwine
Oh - and she blocked the person who mentioned her mistake about "Aslan" and called him of racist behaviour

I can see why she blocked him - it wasn't for the "Aslan" mistake:

Birbalsingh's wider claim is that she's punished for speaking at NatCon, by the repetition of "Hold The Line". But could that not simply be mocking one of the most bizarre speeches most people who follow politics (on either side) had seen?
It shouldn't be controversial, however, to point out that courting notoriety may be not be complementary to, or even compatible with, being a custodian of children.

If you make bizarre rants at ultra right wing events, sharing a platform with those who think Hitler "mucked up", maybe people will assume the worst of you.

She blocked the person who pointed out the mistakes in her letter.

She did unblock him to comment on the timeline and the tweet screenshots

Her comments were wrong as well about screenshots.

She blocked the person who pointed out the mistakes in her letter

We are talking about the same guy who posted the unpleasant comments above.

Also, some of his so-called 'facts' are quite clearly opinions, e.g.
Phillips is explicitly referring to the fact that Birbalsingh tweets under the moniker "Miss_Snuffy". /9

How on earth would he know JP's motivation for referring to KB as 'that headteacher woman'.

That tweet also PRECEDES Phillips' and got 1m views

1m views before JP was involved? When did he screenshot the tweet?

And there are the facts that are facts. That you've ignored.

Such as the misreading of Aslan, the false claim about the screenshot times.

I don't know when he screenshottted the tweets.

I do know that KB, a serving Head Teacher, has posted an open letter on school paper accusing JP of racist behaviour (but not being racist) and has appeared on several TV shows such as GB News, Talk TV to repeat these claims.

She has since said that "her letter may not be perfect", she's admitted that she misread "Aslan" for "Asian" and she has made a claim about screenshot times that has been debunked.

She has also said she is not calling JP racist - yet looking at the media, you would be forgiven for thinking that was the accusation.

If I were going to write such a letter, I would fact check it very carefully and maybe run it past someone.

And if I was being pulled up about it, I would think very carefully before doubling down.

The best one is "these people just lie and lie" when she is caught out in a lie.
Or maybe a misunderstanding of Twitter and not realising that it's very easy to look at old tweets and also to do twitter analytics to look at tweets, views etc

I simply assessed the material you provided to support a serious allegation and found that it fell apart on inspection. You complain that JW did not engage with your argument. But I engaged with it - civilly and in detail. Your reaction was to call me a racist and block me.

He simply assessed the material and engaged civilly?

Hardly - see his comments in my earlier post.

I don't know when he screenshotted the tweets

Presumably in the last few days.

Fuck me. Why don't we concentrate on holding the actual government to account? In case you haven't noticed this country has gone to hell because of them

I shouldn't imagine she is going to complain to anyone at Parliament about this as the evidence and her subsequent comments have shown the inaccuracies in her open letter.

I hope JP does challenge KB in court over the very public accusations.

For an MP in multicultural Birmingham, accusations or insinuations of racism could devastate JP’s chances of reelection, so I hope KB is made to very publicly retract and apologise. The accusation/insinuation will remain, of course. Retraction and apology don’t make the original lie go away.

This is KB talking about this. When questioned where the racial element comes in it's just 'a feeling' she has as a black woman. She's black?!
https://twitter.com/TimesRadio/status/1676145987398561792?t=SGkpPVihbKatKhO0i81BCQ&s=19