Campaigners who unsuccessfully challenged plans to distribute a climate change film in schools are to have their case reconsidered.
They claim making pupils watch Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth breaks a law forbidding schools to promote party-political views.
The bid was rejected by a High Court judge earlier this summer, partly because teachers had been asked to present it in a balanced way. But the campaigners have now won an oral reconsideration of the case, despite the fact the DVD has already been sent to 3,385 secondary schools in England.
The action is brought in the name of Stuart Dimmock, a parent from Kent. The campaign is being led by Derek Tipp, a Conservative councillor in the New Forest.
Mr Tipp, who was a science teacher in a state comprehensive for 17 years, believes schools should stop showing it. “I am not denying global warming is happening, but Al Gore is an intensely political figure and this is a politically motivated film,” he said.
“We say we don’t know enough about this and the tenor of the debate is alarmist. It is presented as if there is no doubt over if or why it is happening. It is not balanced.”
The Department for Children, Schools and Families said it considers the use of the film, along with the guidance, as lawful.
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