Islamophobia in the British Labour Party
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Issues regarding Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism within the Labour Party have been the subject of controversy.[1]
Reports by the Labour Muslim Network
[edit]In November 2020 The Labour Muslim Network (LMN) published the Islamophobia and the Muslim Experience report into prejudice within the Labour Party, which revealed that half of Muslim members said that they did not trust Keir Starmer or the party leadership to address Islamophobia,[2][3] 29% had directly experienced Islamophobia in the party, and that 56% did not believe that the Keir Starmer represented the Muslim community.[3]
In March 2022, the LMN published a follow up report stating that the issues had gotten worse, specifically referencing the hierarchy of racism that had developed in the party.[4][5] The second report found that 59% of Muslim members thought the party's handling of Islamophobia since the first report had been either bad (19%) or very bad (40%), and that 63% of people believed Labour did not represent the Muslim community.[4]
Forde report
[edit]The long-awaited Forde Report, written by lawyer Martin Forde in response to the leaked dossier—The work of the Labour Party's Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014–2019—was finally released on 19 July 2022,[6] revealing that antisemitism had been used as a factional weapon by opponents, and by supporters, of Corbyn in the Labour Party. The report said: "[R]ather than confront the paramount need to deal with the profoundly serious issue of anti-Semitism in the party, both factions treated it as a factional weapon."[7][8][9] It also laid bare how senior Labour staff displayed "deplorably factional and insensitive, and at times discriminatory, attitudes" towards Corbyn and his supporters,[10] and highlighted the hierarchy of racism in the party which ignored Black, Asian, and Muslim people.[11][12]
The Labour Files
[edit]Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit published their 3-part documentary The Labour Files on the inner workings of the British Labour Party. It showed that false accusations of homophobia and anti-Semitism against some Jeremy Corbyn supporters were submitted to the Governance and Legal Unit of the party in order to force their suspension of expulsion from the party. This was part of a "coup by stealth" against Corbyn. The investigation was based on a massive leak of internal documents, emails, and social media messages, and shed light on the party's handling of anti-Semitism allegations, and covered the hiarchy of racism's impact on Black, Asian, and Muslim members divisive internal politics.[13][14][15]
Israel-Hamas war
[edit]In an interview on LBC radio, Keir Starmer stated that Israel “has the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza.[16] Additionally, following the resignations of Muslim Labour councillors over Labour's position on Gaza, an anonymous senior Labour source had been quoted as saying the resignations amounted to “shaking off the fleas”.[17][18]
Shabana Mahmood, Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting spoke up during a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet to warn that Labour risked appearing callous and of losing Muslim votes over the Israel-Hamas war. Mahmood, at the time Labour's highest-profile Muslim MP, told Starmer his stance had caused huge offence in the Muslim community. Haigh said Labour leaders needed to express an emotional connection with Palestinians who were suffering. Streeting, one of Starmer's closest frontbench allies, talked about fear among Muslims of an Islamophobic backlash.[17]
The day after the meeting, Starmer wrote a letter to Muslim and Jewish Labour councillers attempting to assure concernes about the conflict. The letter made no mention of Starmer's comments made in the LBC interview, resulting in an anonmous councillor describing the letter as gaslighting.[17][19]
In January 2024, Labour suspended Kate Osamor for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. Osamor had written that there was an "international duty" to remember the victims of the Holocaust and that "more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza" should also be remembered.[20]
2024 local elections
[edit]Following the May 2024 local elections, in response to a decline in Muslim votes for Labour, an anonymous Labour source stated "It's the Middle East, not West Midlands that will have won Street the Mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains". The statement was criticised by some, including the Labour Party, for being racist but Labour refused to name the source.[21][22]
In the BBC's analysis of the local election results said that Labour vote share had fallen 21 percentage points in council wards where more than 20% of residents are Muslim and analysis by Number Cruncher Politics found that Labour lost 33 percentage points in majority-Muslim areas.[23][24]
2024 General election
[edit]The 2024 United Kingdom general election over saw a landslide of 411 Labour Party candidates elected, but with a record low 34% of the vote share.[25]
Three of the new independents—Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Shockat Adam, defeated Labour incumbent MPs. Iqbal Mohamed was elected to the new constituency of Dewsbury and Batley, the predecessor of which voted Labour in 2019. In Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn defeated the Labour candidate with a majority of 7,247; Corbyn is a prominent activist for Palestinian solidarity.[26] Additionally, Wes Streeting retained his Ilford North constituency by a margin of only 528 votes following a challenge by independent British-Palestinian candidate Leanne Mohamad,[27] while prominent Labour MP Jess Phillips retained her Birmingham Yardley constituency by a margin of 693 votes. These results were suggested to be in part a push-back against Labour's stance on the Israel–Hamas war, Gaza humanitarian crisis and issues regarding Labour's Islamophobia.[28][29]
See also
[edit]- Islamophobia in the UK Labour Party
- Islamophobia in the UK
- Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party
- Antisemitism in the UK Conservative Party
References
[edit]- ^ Gayle, Damien (13 August 2020). "'Hierarchy of racism' fears threaten Starmer's hopes of Labour unity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Chapman, Hamed (27 November 2020). "Over half of Muslim Labour members distrust party to tackle Islamophobia". Muslim News. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ a b Gayle, Damien (14 November 2020). "Over half Muslim Labour members 'do not trust party to tackle Islamophobia'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Islamophobia in the Labour Party – shocking survey results". 16 March 2022.
- ^ "LMN Statement on 2022 Islamophobia Survey". Labour Muslim Network. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "Forde Inquiry Report". Forde Inquiry. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022.
- ^ Zeffman, Henry (20 July 2022). "Antisemitism 'used as weapon' by Jeremy Corbyn's friends and foes". The Times. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "Anti-Semitism used as factional weapon within Labour, says report". BBC News. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Stone, Jon (19 July 2022). "Anti-Corbyn Labour officials covertly diverted election cash to allies, inquiry finds". The Independent. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ Elgot, Jessica; Walker, Peter (19 July 2022). "Antisemitism issue used as 'factional weapon' in Labour, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ White, Nadine (19 July 2022). "Black Labour staff suffer under party's 'hierarchy of racism', Forde report finds". The Independent. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "Forde report highlights racism, Islamophobia and 'toxic hostility' within Labour Party". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Al Jazeera, Investigation Unit. "Unprecedented leak exposes inner workings of UK Labour Party". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Damning leaks claim Jeremy Corbyn secretly brought down by party officials". DAWN.COM. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ Suhail, Mohammad (9 October 2022). "The Labour Files' exposes a toxic right-wing culture poisoning our party". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ "Israel 'has the right' to withhold power and water from Gaza, says Sir Keir Starmer". LBC. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ a b c Stacey, Kiran; Adu, Aletha; Quinn, Ben (20 October 2023). "Labour deeply divided over Starmer's line on Israel-Hamas war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Pidd, Helen (16 October 2023). "Labour councillors quit party in protest at Keir Starmer's Israel stance". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Adu, Aletha (18 October 2023). "Starmer writes to Labour councillors amid criticism of Israel-Gaza stance". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Mason, Rowena (28 January 2024). "Labour suspends Kate Osamor over Gaza comments in Holocaust message". The Guardian.
- ^ "West Midlands mayor thriller that exposed Tory and Labour challenges". BBC News. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Abdul, Geneva (4 May 2024). "Labour condemns party source's 'racist' West Midlands comment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Gohil, Neha (20 May 2024). "'We had to break the status quo': UK campaign seeks to mobilise Muslim vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Labour vote share down a third in some majority Muslim areas, analysis reveals".
- ^ Surridge, Paula (5 July 2024). "Labour wins big but the UK's electoral system is creaking". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Dyer, Henry (5 July 2024). "Jeremy Corbyn re-elected in Islington North after expulsion from Labour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Mulla, Imran. "UK election 2024: British-Palestinian Leanne Mohamad narrowly loses to Labour's Wes Streeting". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Stacey, Kiran (5 July 2024). "Senior Labour figures admit stance on Gaza cost party seats". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Ford, Robert (7 July 2024). "Labour put 'safe' seats at risk to target marginals. It paid off – but there's a cost". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 7 July 2024.