Greater Manchester school slams 'entirely untrue' allegation as it SHUTS due to pro-Palestinian protest outside gates

A Tameside high school remained closed today as pro-Palestinian groups gathered for a protest outside the gates. Bosses at Hyde High School told pupils to stay at home and that they would be taught remotely after plans for the demonstration outside the school on Old Road in Hyde were made public.

The school's headteacher said he was worried that although the protest was expected to be peaceful it 'could be intimidating for pupils or cause dangerous overspill into the road, putting both protestors and pupils at risk.'

He also hit out at 'misinformation' as he claimed the protest had come about as a result of an 'entirely unture' allegation made against a member of staff.

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The Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign led the protest. On their Facebook post asking people to join the demo, the group alleged that 'we have been informed students have been labelled terrorists for simply having painted the Palestinian flag on their hands.'

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, a man at the protest alleged a pupil 'had been ordered to wash the flag off their hand' and that 'pupils at the school had asked them to organise a protest in solidarity'. However, the school has completely refuted the allegations and slammed them as a 'false accusation' following an investigation.

In a letter to parents published on the school website, headteacher Rorick Houghton said: "For context, this originates from a false accusation made about a member of our staff which was investigated thoroughly and, in conversation with the pupils directly involved, found to be