In all the Fallon excitement, Corbyn should not be allowed to get away with his attendance at the MEND event in parliament last night. There’s no two ways about it, MEND is an extremist-linked group whose senior figures have praised Al-Qaeda, attended speeches by al-Qaeda hate preachers, and justified the murder of British troops. Last week the respected Henry Jackson Society think tank dubbed MEND “Islamists posing as civil libertarians”. Tory MPs pulled out of last night’s event when details of MEND’s extremist links were published in the media over the weekend. Yet still Corbyn agreed to be the keynote speaker. Labour MPs Wes Streeting, Stephen Kinnock, Naz Shah, Kate Green and Afzal Khan all attended. Corbyn’s face is now proudly splashed across MEND’s Twitter page.

MEND is a seriously nasty group. Jez and the Labour MPs who attended will have seen the reports about them over the weekend. And they still turned up. It’ll be missed as sleaze takes centre stage, but this is grim stuff from Labour…

Tory MP Mike Freer gets in touch following Guido’s revelations on Labour’s Manchester Gorton candidate Afzal Khan. Freer says:

“It appears to be becoming clear that anti-Semitism spreads the width and breadth of the Labour party. Yet again they are showing just how out of touch they are with the values of ordinary working people.”

Meanwhile, remember how a Labour council candidate in Birmingham Hall Green was suspended by the party for anti-Semitism? Unbelievably, her Tory opponent in the same seat has now also been suspended for anti-Semitic tweets. Obaid Khan seems like a charmer:

What on earth is going on in Birmingham?

Labour’s candidate in the Gorton by-election accused Israel of “genocide” in a vitriolic rant revealed in a secret recording obtained by Guido. The bombshell tape shows Afzal Khan giving an angry speech at an anti-Iraq war rally, in which he says Israel has “been committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and claims this is a “far more pressing issue” than Saddam:

“There is a very real suspicion of President Bush, his motives for this war. He talks about weapons of mass destruction. I ask you, is it only Iraq who have these weapons?… What about America who even use the nuclear weapons? What right does America have? And what about the chemical weapons… it’s America who used it… And what about that man of peace Ariel Sharon? Who makes mockery of the word peace. Who’s been committing genocide against the Palestinian people. What about him? Of course we need to deal with Saddam, but far more pressing issue is the problem of Palestine.”

Khan made the inflammatory comments at an anti-Iraq war rally in 2002. In a statement to Guido he apologises and says he has changed his ways:

“I’m deeply sorry for my use of language 15 years ago and I strongly support a two state solution between Israel and Palestine.”

Labour members have been suspended for saying similar…

Afzal Khan, Labour’s candidate in the Manchester Gorton by-election, is an associate of a radical Islamist who has supported the Taliban, ranted about Jews, defended Osama bin Laden and led funeral prayers for al-Qaeda jihadists. On 22 August 2015, Khan was photographed smiling alongside Siraj ul-Haq from the Pakistani Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami at a UK Islamic Mission event in Manchester.

Back in 2000 ul-Haq reportedly urged the Taliban not to hand over Osama bin Laden to the United States, offering them the support of his party. This is a news report from the time:

“Jamaat-e-Islami has urged Afghanistan’s Taliban not to hand over Saudi national Osama bin Laden to the United States or any other country. The demand was made by Jamaat-e-Islami provincial Secretary General Sirajul Haq in a meeting with the acting Governor of Eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar Maulvi Sadr-e-Azam… Sirajul Haq assured every kind of help and support to the Taliban on behalf of the Jamaat.”

In 2010 Ul-Haq was quoted ranting about “the Jews”:

“The Jews and Christians can not defeat and defame Islam by their hollow threats but they are testing our pulses through sensational announcements across the globe.”

In 2015 Pakistani media quoted ul-Haq peddling anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including that “Blasphemy is a Zionist plot to disturb peace… Blasphemy should be declared a crime globally and stringent laws should be made in this regard”. 

According to a BBC report from 2006, ul-Haq led funeral prayers for 80 alleged Taliban and al-Qaeda militants killed in a bombing raid on a Madrasa in Pakistan. Haq has also opposed Pakistan’s Women’s Protection Act, a law aiming to protect female victims of violence.

Afzal Khan tells Guido in a statement:

“I spend a lot of my time going to community events, meeting people of all faiths, from a broad range of backgrounds. This was one of those events. I do not condone or endorse the views of Siraj-ul-Haq.”

Guido’s Labour Party vetting unit will have more on their extremist-linked Gorton candidate soon…