In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, the Conservative shadow education minister, Michael Gove, said that his party is planning a big expansion of Islamic schools – and “faith schools” generally.

“We want to meet the rights of parents to give their children a faith-based education in accordance with their Islamic beliefs,” Mr Gove told the paper. “The reality is that parents, who want to can send their children to an independent Islamic school, can send them to madrasahs for religious teaching after school.”

There are some 400,000 Muslim students in Britain, but only seven Islamic schools. There are something in the region of 7,000 faith schools in Britain, almost all of them Church of England or Catholic (37 Jewish and two Sikh). The number of religious schools is growing as community schools are being converted at an increasing rate.

Mr Gove said any new Islamic schools would be subject to “formidable checks” to respect British values. “We will allow them while, at the same time, ensuring that these schools are properly run and promoting the values of a modern Britain.”

He said the new schools would be monitored by well-trained inspectors able to distinguish between moderate and extremist teachings. “(This will give) a sense that we are all one nation who have made a certain set of shared sacrifices but enjoy certain shared freedoms.”

Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society, said: “We have been told repeatedly that the Tories intend to build on Labour’s ‘faith school’ madness. Mr Gove has no idea of what he will be up against if he takes the reins. He says that he will subject them to ‘formidable checks’. He has not yet discovered the formidable determination that the promoters of these schools have in using them to promote Islam and indoctrinate children. And as for ‘well-trained inspectors’ – does he not know that Ofsted inspectors are already scared stiff to challenge the excesses of the existing Islamic education system in case they are accused of ‘Islamophobia’?”

Mr Wood said that there seemed no escape from the faith school mania as all the mainstream political parties were determined to continue to promote them.

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