Labour hopeful backed by boss behind visa scam
Fake college gave cover to Manchester terror cell
A CONTROVERSIAL La bo u r candidate is being promoted by a businessman involved in an immigrati on s candal l i nked t o an Al-Qaeda terror plot.
Estate agent Mohammad Tahir Siddique, who is backing Manchester Gorton Labour candidate Afzal Khan, was allegedly among those who ran a Pakistani student visa scam. It reportedly included Manchester College of Professional Studies (MCPS), attended by eight Pakistani men involved in a planned ‘mass-casualty attack’ in the city’s Arndale Centre shopping mall, a court heard in 2010.
The college acted as a gateway to Britain for foreigners who paid for a letter of admission that obtained them a student visa. Many of the college’s Pakistani students came from the country’s North- West Frontier, a Taliban stronghold.
Mr Siddique, who came to the UK from Pakistan as a student, attended the college and, reportedly, later worked there unofficially. It was closed down in 2008.
Two of the Arndale Centre terror plot suspects later enrolled at Manchester’s Kings College of Management, where Mr Siddique was marketing director and was said to charge for bogus diplomas.
He allegedly helped 2,000 people, mostly fellow Pakistanis, some of whom were genuine, to enter or remain in Britain as students at three colleges.
The addresses of Mr Siddique’s Black Stone estate agency, the two colleges and at least one other of his businesses are in Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester. There is no suggestion Mr Siddique was linked in any way with the terror plot. He told The Mail on Sunday he was ‘supporting’ Mr Khan not ‘sponsoring’ him.
Mr Siddique said he had had ‘nothing to do with’ MCPS – or any visa scam – and had worked at Kings ‘only for a short while’.
He ‘hated’ Al-Qaeda, adding: ‘I am against any kind of violence.’
He praised Pakistan-born solici- tor Mr Khan, 58, a former Lord Mayor of Manchester, and said he was entitled to support the local Labour candidate. Mr Siddique has campaigned with Mr Khan, who calls himself a ‘lifelong socialist’, and his Black Stone logo appears on Mr Khan’s election posters.
Currently a Labour MEP, Mr Khan came under fire in 2014 for comparing the Israeli Government to the Nazis. He later apologised.
He was chosen following the death of Gorton Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, who won a thumping 24,079 majority in 2015.
The local Labour Party has a long history of infighting and was suspended by Party chiefs last year over vote-rigging and bullying allegations. Kaufman’s death sparked further feuding over who should succeed him.
Jeremy Corbyn wanted hard-Left ally Sam Wheeler to get the seat nomination but l ost out when a Labour selection panel, which included Keith Vaz, picked an ‘all-Asian shortlist’. Moderate Mr Khan, who was favoured by Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson, won.
Former Labour MP George Galloway of the Left- wing Respect Party called the ‘all-Asian shortlist’ an ‘insult’ to the local community and is standing against Mr Khan on June 8. It has led to speculation that Galloway could split the Labour vote, boosting Lib Dem hopes of winning the seat.
Gorton is one of the poorest areas of Britain and was the setting for Shameless, the fictional TV series about a family living on benefits.
A spokesman for Mr Khan said: ‘Mr Siddique and his business are entitled to encourage people to vote for Labour and Mr Khan.’
Mr Khan said last night: ‘I am unaware of any allegations regarding Mr Siddique’s past. Many local businesses and residents have thrown their support behind my campaign and I have been overwhelmed by t he backing I’ ve received from voters.’