A Camden theatre that receives tens of thousands of taxpayer funding has been slammed for hosting a three-day event with a group that Boris previously described as “apologists for terror”. In April 2021 they were given a £33,671 grant by DCMS…
The Camden People’s Theatre has been accused of a “grotesque lapse of judgement”, compounded after it emerged they’re to soon host one CAGE speaker who previously questioned whether Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11, and another who called Jihadi John a “beautiful young man”. The same week that one Labour council no-platformed comedian Roy Chubby Brown, yet not a peep from Camden council about this…
We're proud to host @BEZNATheatre's People’s Tribunal on Crimes of Aggression: Afghanistan Sessions
— Camden People's Theatre (@CamdenPT) August 10, 2021
The first artistic and independent People's Tribunal marking the War on Terror.
Sept 9-11 (free durational performance): https://t.co/LQiGamGlVE pic.twitter.com/chFIMc4KUZ
The event has been highlighted as part of Policy Exchange’s Understanding Islamism project, which documents the activities of Islamists, both violent and non-violent, and their sympathisers Tory MP and Senior Fellow Nus Ghani said:
“It’s absurd that taxpayers’ money has been allocated to events or individuals who have stated that the Islamic State’s violent Jihadi John is a ‘beautiful young man”.
Fellow senior fellow, and Labour MP, Khalid Mahmood also says it “worries me deeply that official Arts Council and UK Government funding could be going towards something that seems designed to offend the British and American public” Guido expects a swift DCMS review…
Khalid Mahmood, shadow minister for defence, has announced that he quit Starmer’s front bench ahead of the local election results:
It would be easy for Labour MPs and members to whinge about the unfairness of this summary of the past decade. But we must recognise that is how we are seen by so many people in the places that were once unfailingly loyal to us – as a party that has lost its way. It is only by engagement on a local level, meeting eye to eye with voters and hearing their concerns, that we will fix that. I will be doing so not from the Labour front bench, but walking the streets of my constituency as a backbencher and talking face to face with the people I have the honour to serve.
Shadow Health Minister Rosena Allin-Khan had to delete the tweet in the early hours of yesterday morning after sharing a fabricated rumour that vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi secretly received vaccines for himself and his family in Wandsworth this weekend. Zahawi had not received the vaccine. At the same time, the handful of Labour MPs who shared the fake news also deleted their tweets. Barbara Keeley, Karl Turner, and former Leigh MP Jo Platt had joined in the unsubstantiated pile on…
Sharing any information about a patient is bad enough. That Allin-Khan, a registered doctor who works at the Wandsworth hospital in her story, amplified this untrue rumour, makes it even worse. The General Medical Council does not tend to look favourably upon doctors who go around sharing rumours they hear about their own hospital’s supposed patients…
Dr Allin-Khan then tweeted and subsequently deleted a half hearted apology. No doubt LOTO was not impressed with its tone…
“I’ve deleted my previous tweet to Nadhim Zahawi as I understand that people were seeing it as a pile on, which was absolutely not my intention, and for that I apologise. I await a prompt response to the email I sent him about the matter which I hope is answered in good time.”
Eventually a real apology came about at 1:08 AM yesterday morning:
.Thank you for apologising, the accusation was not true. It is sad you chose to act like this, we all need to work together to beat this awful disease.
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) January 3, 2021
Strangely, the gaggle of Labour MPs who were so keen to jump on the made up rumour about Nadhim Zahawi have been totally silent about an MP who did jump the queue. Birmingham Labour MP (and Shadow Procurement Minister) Khalid Mahmood procured himself a Coronavirus vaccine at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital early last week, despite being only 59 years old, and not being eligible for a vaccine until the spring. Mahmood boasted to his constituents that:
“It’s not very well known, but at the end of the day any vaccine unused because people have not turned up for their appointments is made available at the QE vaccination hub – we can’t afford to waste any vaccine doses. I joined a queue at about 3pm and got a vaccine.”
Those who run the hospital, however have condemned the action, saying the end of day doses for the public, especially without an appointment, and the queue Mahmood joined was for NHS staff who were encouraged to take unused spots at the end of the day. A local source tells Guido that a doctor tipped Mahmood off about the queue, after which the Labour MP headed to the hospital and “just hung around waiting for it.” No doubt Dr Rosena and her colleagues had simply not heard about this news…
Labour MPs attended a gender segregated rally in Oldham last night, with photos released from the meeting clearly showing Muslim women and men being seated seperately. The event was hosted by the Labour affiliated group Labour Friends of Bangladesh, in support of Jim McMahon, the party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election. A wide selection of Labour MPs and officials attended, including the candidate Jim McMahon, Naz Shah, Angela Rayner, Khalid Mahmood, Rushanara Ali, Shabana Mahmood and Debbie Abrahams. Abrahams states in in her twitter biography that she is interested in “inequalities”. Although Guido presumes this doesn’t include gender inequalities…
Labour Friends of Bangladesh here to return @CllrJimMcMahon as the next MP for #OldhamWest with fab @ShabanaMahmood pic.twitter.com/ZLDYbSyDFJ
— Debbie Abrahams MP (@Debbie_abrahams) November 29, 2015
Readers will be well aware that this isn’t the first, or even second, time senior Labour figures have attended gender segregated rallies. When will Labour come out and denounce this gender apartheid?
An explosive development in the race to be the Labour candidate for London Mayor. Regular readers will remember Khan going off on one about Blair last week:
“Khan did, however, recall his frustration with the reaction of Tony Blair to the 7/7 terror attacks, when the then-prime minister called in the newly elected MP and the three other Muslim Labour members of the House of Commons. “One of my criticisms of Tony Blair was when he called the four MPs of Islamic faith into No 10 and sat us round the table and said – to Mohammad Sarwar, Khalid Mahmood, Shahid Malik and myself – it was our responsibility,” Khan said. “I said: ‘No, it’s not. Why have you called us in? I don’t blame you for the Ku Klux Klan. Why are you blaming me for the four bombers on 7/7?’ Which is why, after he called us in, and there were lots of cameras outside waiting to speak to us, my three colleagues spoke to the cameras and I walked away.”
Unfortunately for Khan, the other Muslim MPs he mentioned say his version of events is total horsesh*t:
As the MPs identified by Sadiq Khan (Electing a Muslim mayor would send out message of tolerance, says Khan, 3 July) who met with the then prime minister, Tony Blair, following the shocking 7/7 London attacks, we are extremely troubled by Khan’s evidently self-serving revisionism. Having conferred with Mohammed Sarwar (who is now Pakistan-based), we feel compelled to reveal that Khan’s account is at complete odds with our collective recollection.
He now claims that Blair was somehow accusatory towards Muslims as a whole for 7/7, and that Khan was combative in chastising the prime minister for presuming to call him to Downing Street to somehow take responsibility. Our Downing Street discussions in fact ended with a unanimous agreement on the need for unity in the fight against terror and the crucial role for Muslims.
To misrepresent the words of a British prime minister and to mischaracterise a significant meeting in the wake of the tragic loss of 52 lives a week earlier is frankly beyond the pale, and we write today not to defend Blair but to defend the truth.
Khan’s depiction of his bravado is almost comical, and if the events of 7/7 were not so grave, it would be unworthy of response. But this was a profoundly grave episode in our history, which necessitates challenging those who would seek to exploit it for personal gain.
While we agree with Khan that it would be great to see a Muslim mayor for London – as indeed it would to see a black mayor or woman mayor – above all it would be good to see a mayor who could truly command the trust of Londoners irrespective of their colour, creed, race, or gender.
Khalid Mahmood MP Labour, Birmingham Perry Barr
Shahid Malik Labour MP for Dewsbury and Mirfield, 2005-10
A source on Sadiq’s campaign tells Guido this morning that they are “not sweating it” as “ten years on people are going to take different things away from conversations.” Which is all very well, except for the fact that everyone else’s recollection is different from Khan’s…
