MP: Labour used ‘sectarianism’ to appeal to Muslims
BIRMINGHAM MP Khalid Mahmood has accused Labour of using “naked sectarianism” in its successful campaign to win the Batley and Spen by-election.
Mr Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr, criticised a Labour leaflet showing Prime Minister Boris Johnson shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An arrow pointing to the photo read: “The risk of voting for anyone but Labour is clear.”
Labour’s critics say it was an attempt to appeal to Muslim voters angry at India’s actions in Kashmir.
Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves denied this, and suggested it was a reference to the Government’s failure to prevent the Delta variant of Covid arriving in the UK from India.
Mr Mahmood said: “What was Labour thinking with a campaign leaflet that showed Boris with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and said that only Labour could protect Kashmiri human rights?
“As a Labour MP and a proud Kashmiri myself, I was sorry to see my party getting tangled up in such naked sectarianism. On principle, the Labour Party should certainly stand up for minorities all over the world – and against all injustice, wherever and however it emerges.
“But this result should serve as a warning to Labour: if you buy into narrow identity politics and sectarianism, and try to blackmail the voters, they will see through it, whether they are Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or white British.”
Former Labour MP George Galloway stood in
Batley and Spen as the Workers Party candidate, and came third after focusing on Palestine, in a bid to appeal to Muslim voters.
Mr Mahmood said the result shows that, far from being obsessed with overseas issues, British Muslims had the same concerns as other voters.
Mr Mahmood, the first Muslim to be elected as an MP in England, said: “In my experience, Muslim voters are far more interested in the right education policy for their children, health policy for themselves and economic policy for their families and wider community than such arguments, whether about Kashmir or Israel/Palestine.”