Should teachers be struck-off for Holocaust denial?

In the United Kingdom it is not illegal to deny the Holocaust happened.

But to do so is a crime in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Liechtenstein and Switzerland where it is punishable by heavy fines or imprisonment.

In others, such as the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Russia there are also various degrees of criminal prohibition for claiming, either that it didn’t happen, or trivialising its impact.

Teachers in all of those countries would face either immediate dismissal or revocation

of their licence to teach - or both. Indeed, since October 7^th 2023 there have been high-profile cases in France and Poland where university teachers have been the subject of both dismissal and criminal prosecution.

Personally, I have always been of the view that in a free society, a fool should be allowed to express his foolishness. The limits of that foolishness being that even fools must not abuse, threaten or incite violence.

Recently my position has been put severely to the test.

I led a session on professional ethics and values at a highly respected university which every year trains a large cohort of teachers. Tutors there, told me that they had experienced repeated examples of trainees challenging the evidence that the Holocaust actually took place.

In some cases, these were graduates of history who were training to teach the subject. These people will be teaching children in our schools in September.

Are such people suitable to be teachers?

Should Holocaust denial be a reason to dismiss and bar teachers from the teaching profession?

Should we make Holocaust denial a criminal offence?

Alan Newland delivers practical workshops to trainee-teachers in SCITTs and universities on how to promote fundamental British values in schools. He also delivers sessions on the legal, ethical and moral dimensions of becoming a teacher. His book 'Becoming a Teacher' is available globally on Amazon.