Labour is "institutionally islamophobic" - says Labour MP.

I must confess that I do not often agree with Labour MP Zarah Sultana, a fact which will doubtless come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog.

But I do think that she was absolutely right, as well as very brave, to condemn Labour's attack advertising against the PM earlier this year as, quote, “playing on racist tropes of Asian men”.

Zarah Sultana added that Labour officials "knew exactly what they were doing" when they published a picture of the Prime Minister's face alongside the claim he did not think child sex abusers should go to prison.

The adverts, published on the party’s X (formerly Twitter) account in April, highlighted the number of adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 who did not go to prison.

“Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t,” the poster said.

I will add - and this point is coming from me rather than Ms Sultana - that during most of the period which the statistics used in the advert apply to, Rishi Sunak was not yet even an MP, while Sir Keir Starmer was director of Public Prosecutions.

Zarah Sultana added of the Labour attack adverts, 

“I looked at them and thought, are you talking about my family members? Do you realise how this would be seen within South Asian communities as a whole? Do you care?”

Ms Sultana said she was “personally quite offended” by the poster, and went on,  “I would go as far as calling [Labour] institutionally Islamophobic."

The remarks were made during a wide-ranging interview with Novara Media which also touched on Labour's approach to the current crisis in the Middle East.

Source reports:

MP Zarah Sultana says Labour are 'institutionally Islamophobic' | The National

Left-wing Labour MP Zarah Sultana brands the party 'institutionally' Islamophobic in attack on Keir Starmer amid furious row over Gaza ceasefire vote and leader's backing for Israel | Daily Mail Online

Labour MP blasts Keir Starmer’s Sunak attack ads for being Islamophobic | The Independent


For context let me add that all parties should constantly be on their guard against racism of every kind, and that none of Britain's political parties can afford to be complacent about either Antisemitism or Anti-Muslim prejudice.

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