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After losing so many votes in the election, you would think that Labour would be eager to address Muslim complaints. So far, it seems they are content to disregard them.
“The battle that defines our political era,” said Keir Starmer, the newly appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom, at last week’s State Opening of Parliament.
However, he has previously skirted the question of why Muslim voters in Britain are losing faith in his Labour Party by referring to the party’s “incredibly strong mandate” in an evasive manner, only one week before.
A record-low vote for a winning party and five independent MPs elected in constituencies that were previously held by Labour were the weak points in Starmer’s defenses.
The Muslim Vote (TMV) is a grassroots movement that backed all of the independents after the main parties’ rejection of the Scottish National Party’s resolution for a truce in the Gaza conflict. The press has been trying to discredit the election results ever since it took place by suggesting that independent members of parliament were elected due to “sectarianism.”
These claims are readily debunked: over half of the candidates sponsored by TMV were not Muslims; for example, a Green Party candidate was favored above a Muslim Labour candidate in Sheffield, and the individuals who won ran on anti-austerity and local issue themes.
The non-religious affirmation was used to swear in independent MPs more recently, maybe as a symbolic rejection of the “tribalism” claims. Despite accusations that TMV promoted “religious and ethnic allegiances,” the group’s candidates came from a variety of backgrounds and ideology. They included Greens, independents, Workers Party candidates, and Liberal Democrats, who were all united in their belief that Britain was involved in the continuing genocide against the Palestinian people.
The narrative that undermines TMV’s victories has been bolstered by Starmer’s defeated backers. When Ayoub Khan defeated longtime MP Khalid Mahmood for the Birmingham Perry Barr seat, Mahmood blamed a “stitch-up” for his defeat.
Attempting to depose him “mainly because I’ve stood up to these people,” Mahmood said that the supporters of TMV had “no real place in the British community” and plotted his deposition.
Long-standing mistrust
Unfortunately, Mahmood’s career has taken a hit due to his stance on the Iraq war and his refusal to allow an investigation of the invasion.
He spread the fake news of an Islamist takeover of Birmingham schools using the Trojan Horse hoax. Many Muslim voters leaning to the left were opposed to him because of his ties to neoconservative think tanks, such as his position as a senior fellow at Policy Exchange and political council member for the Henry Jackson Society.
His failure to secure a victory despite his vote in support of the ceasefire motion is indicative of the widespread mistrust of Labour’s policies in the area.
Independent MP Shockat Adam was “elected on the basis of a foul and obnoxious lie that I was responsible for genocide,” according to Jonathan Ashworth, a former MP for Leicester South who has used a similar script in appearances with Andrew Marr and Kay Burley. “A minority of bullies and loudmouths” he says were running his opponent’s campaign.
Not likely to win over Leicester’s Bangladeshi population, Ashworth had promised to “send… back” migrants “who shouldn’t be here… from countries like Bangladesh or wherever” in the week leading up to the election.
A shockat It was “simply not true” that Adam was bullying anybody, and “nobody expected [Ashworth] to wave a magic wand, and peace would prevail over the Middle East,” he said (citing Adam). Instead of their representative speaking out for them, the public was faced with utter silence.
Muslims in Ashworth’s and Mahmood’s constituencies lost trust in them due to their political histories and how they responded to losing.
Danger of death
An obvious imbalance exists: independents have been compelled to consistently denounce hostility that is unconnected to them, whilst their opponents have not been so burdened.
There was almost little coverage of the hate speech directed against TMV and its candidates during a highly charged election: Candidates for the Workers Party, including one with cerebral palsy, have spoken out against the “irrational hatred of disabled people” they encountered during the campaign. Leanne Mohamed confided in me about the vicious online harassment she endured, which included anti-Palestinian and virulently misogynist comments; and Adam’s canvassers were informed that Leicester residents “would never vote for a P–ki.”
For failing to appear in parliament on Friday, Ashworth scolded Adam. According to Adam, he was discussing a death threat with the police.
In public discourse, nonviolent demonstrators are portrayed as “mobs,” participating in democracy is deemed “anti-democratic,” and political involvement is characterized as “sanitised Islamism.” It goes without saying that this seems to be the destiny of every political mobilization made by Muslims.
“Where we didn’t secure votes, we’ll address that,” Starmer said vaguely when asked how he would restore faith among Muslim populations.
There have been two reactions to TMV’s successes: either the ill-informed bluster of Labour’s fallen heroes or the indifference of the re-elected politicians who have a solid majority in parliament even without their backing.
The Labour Party is unwilling to confront the genuine complaints of Muslims in Britain, as both responses show.
Starmer left it unclear how he would regain the confidence of Muslim communities when asked: “Where we didn’t secure votes, we’ll address that.”
Voters of Muslim faith, many of whom have lost faith in the two-party system, will find this hard to believe. Seeing something for what it is is the first point.
Government officials maintain their unwavering support for a state that is being investigated for genocide, even while Foreign Secretary David Lammy shakes hands with an individual who has been handed an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.
The choice of Richard Hermer as attorney general has been seen by some as a sign that Labour is open to strong legal counsel. However, Muslim voters and others will continue to feel strongly about Gaza as long as Britain continues to sell armaments to Israel.
Muslims facing hardship
The following are some of the broad and reasonable goals that TMV supports: an ethical foreign policy, the protection of civil liberties (including the right to protest), and investment in the poorest communities across the UK. By addressing these issues, Labour can still win over Muslims. The 2022 Muslim Census revealed that half of Muslim households live in poverty, compared to 18% of the general population.
Committing to eliminate the two-child benefit restriction, for example, would be a courageous move that would address many concerns about the party’s lack of moral bravery. It is disturbing that seven Labour MPs, who were backed by the independents before, were suspended for defying the government’s stance.
Starmer has faced accusations of dictatorship before. After Faiza Shaheen said that she was “penalised for describing [her] experiences of Islamophobia,” the party deselected her and allied itself with pro-Israel candidate Luke Akehurst in their electoral campaign.
The Forde study from 2022 found that the party had “a hierarchy of racism or discrimination” that prevented some types of prejudice from being addressed properly.
“Muslim members have consistently told us they feel Islamophobia often sits at the bottom of this perceived hierarchy,” the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) said at the time, adding that the findings clearly showed “institutional Islamophobia” in Labour. This needs significant consideration from the party.
Instead of ignoring angry citizens, the government may interact with them.
Adam made a distinction between “robust questioning” and intimidation when he denounced it as a tactic used by Labour candidates.
Locals’ fury, Adam said, stems from the fact that “whether we like it or not, according to many human rights organisations, there is a genocide…” “When are we, as a species, going to be furious if we don’t feel justified anger at that exact moment?”
Starmer should intervene on behalf of Muslims on the many concerns that plague them.
However, Labour will not be able to regain confidence so readily until it addresses the root causes of that resentment.
This article is the author’s opinion and does not represent Middle East Eye’s editorial stance.
