The Bristol branch of the PSC said it acted because Egan was vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Steve Reed, the communities secretary, said the incident was an \u201coutrage\u201d and the school\u2019s leaders would be held to account. <\/p>\n A source close to Egan said: \u201cIt is a classic case of how far-left extremists and some members of the NEU try to silence and cancel people. It cannot be allowed to be the case that MPs cannot visit a local school because of a risk that teachers will protest and their safety endangered.\u201d<\/p>\n Egan outside his childhood home in Kingswood, in his constituency<\/p>\n ADRIAN SHERRATT FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n Senior leaders at the academy are understood to have told staff that Egan\u2019s visit was cancelled over \u201csafeguarding concerns\u201d. <\/p>\n The Times understands the visit was cancelled the day before it was due to take place after school leaders became worried about protests. They were made aware of WhatsApp messages circulating among parents, some of whom planned to keep their children off school, which the leaders feared would affect attendance statistics. <\/p>\n The school is part of the Cabot Learning Federation, which is sponsored by the University of the West of England and Rolls-Royce. <\/p>\n Reed told the Jewish Labour Movement conference: \u201cI have a colleague who is Jewish, who has been banned from visiting a school and refused permission to visit a school in his own constituency, in case his presence inflames the teachers. That is an absolute outrage.<\/p>\n \u201c[Those responsible] will be called in, and they will be held to account for doing that, because you cannot have people with those kinds of attitudes teaching our children.\u201d<\/p>\n A teacher at Bristol Brunel Academy is understood to have sent messages to fellow teachers and parents in a WhatsApp group on learning of Egan\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u2022 NEU chief Daniel Kebede: He\u2019s militant, anti-Israel and leading teachers\u2019 fight for pay<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Michaela Wilde, a pastoral support worker at City Academy, a sister school, told the Bristol Cable, a left-leaning media publisher: \u201c[We had been] talking about things like people wearing keffiyehs to work that day\u2026 and the work that members could do with students in preparation for that visit.\u201d<\/p>\n The PSC\u2019s Bristol branch wrote in a Facebook post on the day of the planned visit: \u201cVictory for parents, teachers and the community. The planned school visit today by Damien Egan, MP for Bristol North East, has been cancelled after concerns were raised by the NEU trade union staff group, parents and local constituents.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a clear message \u2014 politicians who openly support Israel\u2019s genocidal assault on Gaza<\/a> are not welcome in our schools. Egan is vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel and has visited Israel since the current onslaught on Gaza began, demonstrating his support. We celebrate this cancellation as a win for safeguarding, solidarity and for the power of trade unionists, parents and campaigners standing together.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Labour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/bf9b02b7-cf25-4a08-a3b9-f0217d8b6f2c.jpg\")
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