Rishi Sunak has hit out at the treatment of a Batley Grammar School teacher who was forced into hiding after receiving threats and abuse, dubbing it "unacceptable".
His spokesperson said the incident is "partly why we are setting out plans to tackle extremism".
A teacher at Batley Grammar School was forced into hiding for showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in class.
Asked if the teacher needs more support from central Government, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: "I am not aware of any specific measures in their case but clearly the situation they have experienced is unacceptable and it is partly why we are setting out plans to tackle extremism."
Rishi Sunak has hit out at the treatment of a Batley Grammar School teacher who was forced into hiding after receiving threats and abuse, dubbing it "unacceptable"
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Asked if the teacher should get support from the council or the school, the spokesperson said: "Absolutely - whilst people have the right to protest it is unacceptable for any group or individuals to set out to disrupt the provision of education or to intimidate staff or students."
Yesterday, Dame Sara Khan, who authored a report into extremism, told GB News that there have been "lots of teachers who have experienced threats and abuse" but said the Government is unaware of the "full scale" of the problem as the Department for Education doesn't collect data.
She warned that rising hate crime could "erode our freedoms".
The Khan Review said that towns and cities across Britain are "struggling" to deal with extremism being whipped up by Islamists and the far Right.
It concluded that in some areas there is "no infrastructure in place" to tackle conspiracy theories, disinformation and harassment.
Speaking three years after it happened, Khan said teaching unions told her similar incidents are becoming a "growing problem", adding: "I think this is something we have to tackle. And, you know, let's be clear, this was somebody who was teaching a lesson that was part of the national curriculum that was signed off by the local authority, and he was hounded out of his job and forced into hiding in our country in the 21st century.
"That is totally and utterly unacceptable in a free and democratic society like ours."
Khan, who said she has met with the teacher multiple times, described the impact of what happened to him as "devastating".
She added: "It's not just impacted him. It's impacted his family, his children. As I write in the report, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of what happened to him at the time of the incident, which is exactly three years ago today.
His spokesperson said the incident is "partly why we are setting out plans to tackle extremism"
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"He felt suicidal because not only because of the incident and the threats to him, but because of the failure of local agencies and authorities to help him, which compounded his sense of suicidal thoughts".
A recent poll, conducted for Policy Exchange, found that teachers across the UK are self-censoring their lessons over fears of causing religious offence.
A survey of over 1,000 teachers found that 16 per cent of them have admitted to self-censoring. The think tank claims this has created a “de facto blasphemy code in schools across the country”.
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Earlier this month, ministers unveiled a new definition of extremism, which will be used to ban certain groups from accessing Government funding and meeting with officials.
The definition will apply to groups that promote an ideology based on "violence, hatred or intolerance."
The new definition, which came into force two weeks ago, will not criminalise the groups but it will deny them access to taxpayer funding and bar them from meeting ministers and officials or gaining a platform that could "legitimise" them via association with the Government.
