Parents protest at school's 'Halal-only' lunch

Staff were forced to call the police after one father strode into the school in North London to challenge the new meals policy.

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Kingsgate Primary in West Hampstead is among growing numbers of schools with high Muslim populations to use halal-only meat in cooking.

But the menus, which will feature only meat that has been slaughtered in the halal way with a single cut to the throat, have not always been well received.

At Kingsgate, parents carrying placards congregated at the school gates to demand a reversal of the policy, claiming their children would be denied a choice.

But the protests triggered claims of racism from parents of Muslim children, who make up three quarters of the school population.

Yesterday headmistress Liz Hayward was refusing to back down, insisting that a majority of parents had backed the move to halal-only menus in a comprehensive survey of families.

But protesting parents accused her of forcing their children to to conform to "someone else's culture".

Mother Jacqueline Gomm said: "I sent my kids to this school because I don't want them to be affected by religion.

"We can't force our culture on someone else because that's not right so we shouldn't have someone else's culture forced on us.

"The little culture that we have is being lost. I don't know any other country that would do the same."

She added: "I totally deny being guilty of racism.

"We allow people to come into this country and we end up being in a minority.

"We accommodate other cultures at the expense of ours."

Staff at Kingsgate were forced to take phones off the hook after abusive callers claimed to be from the British National Party.

Miss Gomm insisted: "The phone calls from the BNP had nothing to do with us.

"But the sad thing is many people will turn to them because they feel there is no other choice."

One father claims he was threatened with arrest if he steps inside Kingsgate grounds after entering the school to challenge the head's claims over the results of the parental survey on halal meat.

Neville Grant said: "I went to the school to protest because I didn't believe the statistics but the headteacher refused to show me them.

"The next thing I know is when my daughter called me and said that three police cars and a van had pulled up outside my house.

"I'm a next of kin for my son and now I can't even go into the school. It's outrageous."

However one Muslim parent, Solveig Francis, accused the protesters of "naked racism", adding: "It's got nothing to do with choice.

"When you listen to what they say about English culture being imposed upon and so on, it really does give it away.

"They talk about keeping up English values - but the most important value we have is democracy. It's about time that was upheld."

The halal method of slaughtering animals involves blessing them before cutting through the large arteries in the neck with one swipe of a blade.

All blood is then drained away since the consumption of blood is forbidden under Islamic law.

Some animal rights activists have claimed the halal method is less humane than modern slaughtering techniques where the animal is stunned before being killed.

But Muslims believe halal is the most painless method since the neck is severed quickly, preventing the livestock feeling pain.

A spokeswoman from Camden Council denied Mr Grant had been banned from the school.

She added that Kingsgate was among four schools in the borough to have opted for halal-only menus.

She said: "There will also be a vegetarian choice and a jacket potato with toppings of choose, beans or fish, so there is always a hot, healthy option available for all children."