An individual who is a member of the Labour government’s own national committee has asserted, in the midst of widespread racial unrest, that the administration is unable to properly combat racism and Islamophobia.
Mish Rahman, a member of the Labour National Executive Committee, has expressed his disapproval of Sir Keir Starmer’s failure to classify the assaults as “terrorism” in an interview that was conducted exclusively for The Independent. His assertion that the unwillingness to classify the violence as an act of terrorism demonstrates a problematic double standard was accompanied by the following statement: “It suggests to me that it is terrorism when only committed by a Muslim.” Linguistics are important.
Neil Basu, who was the previous head of counterterrorism in the United Kingdom, agreed with this viewpoint. Basu cautioned that the most extreme incidents of far-right violence that occurred during riots across the country ought to be regarded as acts of terrorism at the beginning of the disturbance.
A horrific occurrence in Southport, in which three girls were killed in a knife assault at a dance class, prompted widespread unrest across the country, and Mr. Rahman’s statements come in the wake of this tragedy across the country.
Following the spread of false stories and misinformation that fuelled the idea that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, this resulted in a surge of violence from the extreme right, with mobs breaking into multiple hotels that housed asylum seekers, immigration law businesses, and centres.
One of the many distressing instances that took place at the Southport Islamic Centre was when rioters attacked the mosque, setting fire to cars and throwing rocks at the structure. As a result, Muslims were left in fear for their lives.
The member of the NEC voiced his amazement at the events that transpired and accused the leaders of the party of failing to make sufficient statements to condemn the widespread targeting of ethnic minorities.
Specifically, he stated that the Conservatives are responsible for purposely fuelling the flames of hatred and divisiveness. In my perspective, the Labour Party has not demonstrated that it possesses the remedies or the understanding of how to adequately address the issue of racism.
Earlier this year, Mr. Rahman referred to the party as “institutionally Islamophobic and racist.” This was in response to the fact that Faiza Shaheen, a former candidate for Labour, was not elected. In addition, Mr. Rahman had first accused the current prime minister of “gaslighting” him regarding his approach to the crisis in Gaza.
Although Mr. Rahman expressed his satisfaction with Sir Keir’s recent efforts to safeguard communities of ethnic minorities, which came after hundreds of rioters were apprehended and charged for their violent activities, he noted that the conversation and vocabulary around migration would benefit from immediate modification.
“Just prior to the election, you had Jonathan Ashworth and Keir Starmer boasting about the fact that they had sent Bangladeshi people back to Bangladesh because they feel that Bangladesh is a secure place. That has not aged well in light of the events that have transpired in Bangladesh since then,” he went on to say. It is impossible for us to separate the language from the deeds that would follow. These are comments that are a reaction to problems that require solutions and language that is reasonable.
He made the following statement in response to a call for a more compassionate approach to discussions on migration: “The right solutions to this problem are to speak about migration with compassion for minorities, without demonising them, by pointing out the real causes of immigration and not making it out or supporting a theory that immigrants are to blame for society’s ills.”
He stated that “everyone who is a person of colour is under threat.” This was the comment that he made. Reform campaigners spread bias, and even Rishi Sunak was not immune to it. Reform campaigners were spreading prejudice. At the end of the day, a lot of people did label him as the P-word. During this time period, we are presented with the same threat that our parents faced when they first arrived in our country in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Independent has reached out to the Labour Party in an effort to acquire a comment on the matter through their contact.
The Prime Minister made a message to those individuals who “feel targeted because of the colour of your skin or your faith” in response to the violence that was carried out by members of the far right. In the statement, the Prime Minister stated that the “violent mob do not represent this country.”
This is an excerpt from his address that he gave to the general public on August 5th, and it is as follows: “People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we have seen Muslim communities targeted and attacks on mosques.”
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Shabana Mahmood, the Secretary of State for Justice, on his visit at the Solihull Mosque on August 8th. His promise was that everyone who took part in the disruptions would “feel the full force of the law.” He made this promise. More than a thousand individuals have been taken into custody since that time, and more than 670 have been charged with various offences.