Senior MPs have called for a robust investigation into a complaint by a former British spy against one of Scotland’s leading private schools after he alleged his daughter was discriminated against.
Aimen Dean, who spied inside al-Qaida for British intelligence for eight years, has lodged a complaint with Scotland’s Registrar of Independent Schools claiming his daughter was unfairly treated because a handful of parents at St George’s School in Edinburgh thought he was a security risk.
Despite holding British citizenship, Dean and his wife are emigrating to the Middle East because they say they fear their experience will be repeated if they try to relocate within the UK.
Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said he was alarmed at Dean’s allegations. He said they needed to be fully investigated and resolved.
“Someone who has offered extraordinary courage and has unquestionably saved thousands of lives should be respected and valued,” Tugendhat said. “These accusations are deeply worrying and I’m sure everybody involved will want them investigated immediately.”
St George’s has vigorously rejected Dean’s allegations and told parents on Sunday it had “every confidence” that the regulator would clear the school and its former headteacher Alex Hems.
In a letter emailed to parents after the Guardian and the Glasgow-based podcast Blethered with Sean McDonald published Dean’s allegations on Sunday, Carol Chandler-Thompson, who recently took over as St George’s headteacher, said: “I can tell you that we very strongly dispute the allegations made against us and Mrs Hems, and have submitted a detailed rebuttal to the registrar.
“As you will already know, St George’s is a genuinely welcoming and friendly school community. Ever since its foundation in 1888, the principles of equality and inclusion have been at the heart of the school, and we are deeply dismayed to see its values and approach being misrepresented in this way.”
Dean and his wife allege there was a “toxic environment” at the school after parents complained he was a security risk. They allege they had to change their daughter’s arrival times at school; that the girl was shouted at for being late in class; that a handful of parents were hostile towards them; and staff suggested their autistic son would be better off being educated in the Middle East. The school has insisted Dean’s account is inaccurate and incomplete.
Stewart McDonald, a Scottish National party MP on the foreign affairs committee, said: “Having done extraordinary work to save lives, and endangering his own in no small way, Mr Dean and his family ought to have been welcomed with open arms here in Scotland – a place they chose to call home having visited many times.
“It’s crucial the allegations he makes are investigated thoroughly and without fear or favour. At a time when we are helping settle many Afghans who supported western authorities, they must have particular confidence that our institutions – private and public – will treat them with the utmost dignity and respect they deserve.”
A spokesperson for St George’s said: “We agree that the matter should be investigated without fear or favour, and trust that politicians and others will keep an open mind about it until a determination has been made. The school has submitted a detailed rebuttal of the allegations to the registrar and we are content to let the process now run its course.”
Tugendhat, a former British army intelligence officer who knows Dean, said the former al-Qaida bombmaker turned spy had saved thousands of lives. He said Dean was one of the most important western spies of the modern era.
“The courage required to operate with an organisation known for its exceptional violence and cruelty and have the courage and integrity to realise the importance of your position, to realise that it’s more than just you, is remarkable,” Tugendhat said.
Along with exposing a planned chemical bomb attack on the New York subway, Dean passed al-Qaida’s 800-page bomb-making manual, which had instructions for building chemical, biological and radiological weapons, to MI6. He also helped thwart suicide bombings and an attack on the US navy’s sixth fleet.
Alongside his complaint to the registrar, Dean is consulting lawyers to test whether he had grounds for legal action.
