A teacher who hit the headlines over his refusal to refer to a student by their chosen pronoun says he has been fired from his current job after claiming Muhammad was a "false prophet".
Joshua Sutcliffe claims he was "constructively dismissed" from a Catholic school in London for making the statement on one of his YouTube videos - his channel features him preaching on the streets and delivering sermons to a small audience of online subscribers.
In the video titled 'What does the Bible say about false prophets?’ Sutcliffe declared:
“I know this is controversial and I know that people might be offended by what I’m saying but I do it in love and because I want to speak the truth.
“I believe Muhammad is a false prophet, I would suggest that Muslims have a false understanding of God because they’ve been led by a false prophet."
Sutcliffe said that the "Islamic mafia" had orchestrated the alleged firing from his most recent position.
“Both camps used bully tactics and intimidation and they’re getting people sacked all around the country,” he added. The school insists that Sutcliffe resigned.
Sutcliffe was suspended from The Cherwell School in Oxford back in 2017 after saying "well done girls" to his class despite one student in the room choosing to identify as a boy. Sutcliffe insisted that the school had given him no guidance on how to refer to this particular student.
After the school placed Sutcliffe under investigation and concluded that he had "contravened the school’s equality policy" by misgendering the pupil, Sutcliffe issued a letter to the headmaster, writing:
“As a Christian, I do not share your belief in the ideology of transgenderism. I do not believe that young children should be encouraged to self-select a ‘gender’ which may be different from their biological sex; or that everyone at school should adjust their behaviour to accommodate such a ‘transition’; or that people should be punished for lack of enthusiasm about it. Implementation of these ideas is detrimental to the welfare of children, which I believe should be a paramount consideration."
Following his resignation over the issue, Sutcliffe expressed a desire to take the school to an employment tribunal. However, earlier this year, it was announced by his legal representatives that he had reached an "amicable resolution" with the school, and the case was effectively closed.