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

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

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

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

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

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

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

time, thinking, why not? It's just... We're infamous, like, for what's it written on parchment?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

off to Syria to join this group called ISIS.

And Birmingham has been home to quite a few terrorists. My neighbour was a terrorist. The

guy who killed five people and then tried to run into Parliament with a knife, he did

...