meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Trojan Horse Affair

Part 1: The Letter in the Brown Paper Envelope

The Trojan Horse Affair

Serial Productions & The New York Times

News, Society & Culture

4.67.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A strange letter appears outlining a plot by Islamic extremists to infiltrate Birmingham schools. Hamza and Brian visit the supposed mastermind of the plot, and he tells them he did take over a bunch of schools – just not for the reasons in the letter.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is my first story as a journalist. I hadn't planned for it to be my last story,

0:07.6

but it probably will be, given what's happened in the years I've been working on this.

0:12.2

It's about a letter that surfaced in my city and had huge consequences for Britain. This

0:19.1

letter launched four government investigations, changed our national policy and ended careers.

0:25.6

It has hurt some of the country's most vulnerable children. A letter that many people who've

0:30.3

seen it agree is ridiculous. It's unsigned, undated. Didn't it look like a serious document?

0:36.8

It just seemed comical. I think, what the hell is this? I remember looking at it some time,

0:41.0

thinking, why not? Even for a letter, what's it written on parchment in blood?

0:46.0

So you're presenting me with a document that turned our lives upside down?

0:53.4

I first learnt the letter in 2014. I was an adjournness then. I was a doctor who'd quit

0:59.2

medicine living in Birmingham, England, making my breakfast at 1pm, listening to the news.

1:04.8

When I heard about the discovery of a secret communicate between Muslim extremists,

1:10.0

they were discussing a plot to infiltrate our city schools and run them on strict Islamic

1:14.6

principles, potentially with the aim of radicalising students. Someone had forwarded the letter

1:20.2

anonymously to the local government, the Birmingham City Council, but it was missing the first

1:24.7

and last page, so it was unknown exactly who wrote it or who they were sending it to.

1:30.3

According to the intercepted pages, the plot had a code name, Operation Trojan Horse.

1:38.2

I have to admit, when this story about Muslims in Birmingham first broke, as a Muslim in

1:43.4

Birmingham, I was alarmed. It sounded possible. Kids across Britain, across Europe, were flying

1:49.8

off to Syria to join this group called ISIS. And Birmingham has been home to quite a few

1:54.4

terrorists. My neighbour was a terrorist. The guy who killed five people and then tried

1:58.5

to run into Parliament with a knife. He did his planning in a flat above the Persian

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Serial Productions & The New York Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Serial Productions & The New York Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.