‘Horrible’ Islamophobic email sent to Muslim MP
AN MP has revealed he and fellow Muslim parliamentarians were sent a ‘very offensive Islamophobic email’ amid concerns that hate crime is on the rise.
Gorton MP Afzal Khan said ‘the least offensive part described us as murdering Muslim scum’ in a tweet.
Mr Khan told the M.E.N. the email represented a growing issue with hate crime during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said he has reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police.
The issue isn’t helped by the fact that some reports in the media have featured quotes from prominent MPs blaming Muslims for the pandemic, he said.
Mr Khan said: “It’s shocking. You get up in the morning, go to your email and find this horrible email.
“Sadly it’s on the increase with Covid-19. There is a lot of stuff going round on social media. I find it disgusting, on a personal level, it’s not right. My staff don’t deserve this. They have access to my email. We need to look at this and see what we can do online.”
It comes a week after Conservative MP Craig Whittaker, who represents Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, claimed the ‘vast majority’ of people breaking social distancing rules in households in the at-risk wards of his constituency were from BAME communities – and Muslims in particular.
Mr Khan said: “People saying things like that is awful. In this pandemic, we are all in this together. The best thing is not throwing the blame around but working together. In mosques they locked down a week before the UK locked down. I have been impressed by what measures mosques have had in place.”
Mr Khan’s concerns about Mr Whittaker’s comments echoed those raised by the region’s mayor Andy Burnham. He said: “As a former MP I don’t think it’s a good idea ever to make sweeping generalisation about your constituents, and it’s a particularly poor idea to single out one group for such comments.”
Mr Whittaker defended his comments last week, saying that he stood by what he’d said, claiming ‘unless we talk about these things openly... sensible conversation’ would not be possible about the actions required to stop a resurgence of the virus.