Aymen Deen, who spied for al-Qaeda for British intelligence for eight years, has lodged a complaint with the Independent Schools Secretary for Scotland claiming his daughter was treated unfairly because a handful of parents at St George’s School in Edinburgh thought she was a risk for safety. Despite having British citizenship, Dean and his wife are immigrating to the Middle East because they say they fear a repeat of their experience if they try to relocate to the UK. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said he was concerned by Dean’s claims. He said they should be fully investigated and resolved. “Someone who has shown extraordinary courage and has undoubtedly saved thousands of lives should be respected and appreciated,” Tugendhat said. “These allegations are deeply troubling and I’m sure everyone involved will want to be investigated immediately.” St George’s strongly rejected Dean’s claims and told parents on Sunday it had “absolute confidence” the regulator would clear the school and its former headteacher Alex Hems. In a letter emailed to parents after the Guardian and the Glasgow-based podcast Blethered with Sean McDonald published Dean’s allegations on Sunday, Carol Chandler-Thompson, who recently took over as principal of St George, said: “ I can tell you that we are very strongly disputing the allegations against us and Ms. Hems and submitted a detailed rebuttal to the secretary. “As you will already know, St George’s is a really welcoming and friendly school community. Since its foundation in 1888, the principles of equality and inclusion have been at the heart of the school and we are deeply disappointed to see its values and approach misrepresented in this way.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Dean and his wife claim there was a “toxic environment” at the school after parents complained it was a safety risk. They claim they had to change their daughter’s arrival times at school. that the girl got yelled at for being late to class; that a handful of parents were hostile towards them. and staff suggested that their autistic son would be better educated in the Middle East. The school has insisted that Dean’s account is inaccurate and incomplete. Stuart MacDonald, SNP MP on the foreign affairs committee, said: “Having done an outstanding job to save lives and risking his own in no way, Mr Dean and his family should have been welcomed with open arms here in Scotland. – a place they have chosen to call home having visited many times. “It is important that the allegations he makes are investigated thoroughly and without fear or favour. At a time when we are helping to settle many Afghans who supported Western authorities, they must have particular confidence that our institutions – private and public – will treat them with the utmost dignity and respect they deserve.” A spokesman for St George’s said: “We agree that the matter should be investigated without fear or favour, and trust that politicians and others will keep an open mind about this until a decision is made. The school has submitted a detailed rebuttal to the allegations to the registrar and we are content to let the process run its course now.” Tugendhat, a former British army intelligence officer who knows Dean, said the former al Qaeda bomber-turned-spy had saved thousands of lives. He said that Dean was one of the most important western spies of the modern era. “The courage it takes to operate with an organization known for its extraordinary violence and cruelty and to have the courage and integrity to realize the importance of your position, to realize that it’s not just you, is remarkable,” said Tugendhat. Along with revealing a planned chemical bomb attack on the New York subway, Dean handed MI6 the 800-page Al Qaeda bomb-making manual, which had instructions for making chemical, biological and radiological weapons. It also helped prevent suicide bombings and an attack on the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet. Along with his complaint to the secretary, Dean consults lawyers to check if he had grounds for legal action.
