Brent councillors sign unity petition following the 15,000 strong 'Free Tommy Robinson' protest

From Stand Up to Racism. I understand that so far the petition has been signed by the following Brent Councillors: Tariq Dar, Krupesh Hirani, Margaret McLennan, Claudia Hector and Thomas Stephens.

You can  join them by signing the petition HERE


The 15,000 strong violent far right protest to ‘free Tommy Robinson’ on Saturday 9 June has raised major questions for all those who value our diversity.

The racist right—from hardcore Nazis, through the FLA/DFLA to ‘For Britain’ and UKIP—are using Robinson to re-organise. Nazi salutes and Islamophobia were at the centre of the mobilisation.

This is the first serious attempt since the collapse of the English Defence League (EDL) to develop a racist street movement and give it a political form. It is supported internationally by notorious figures including Geert Wilders from the Dutch Islamophobic right and Steve Bannon, former adviser to Donald Trump.

It is absolutely vital that all who oppose this come together in a united mass movement powerful enough to drive these new developments on the far-right back.

Donald Trump has played a major role in galvanising the racist right. We will take to the streets for the Together Against Trump demonstration coinciding with his visit on 13 July. And when Robinson’s supporters take to the streets again on 14 July, we will protest against them too.

Wherever the far right’s support grows so does racism and violence. Let's come together to defend our multicultural society from those who spread hatred and division.

Initial signatories include:

Diane Abbott MP, Shadow Home Secretary /John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor / Len McCluskey Unite the Union General Secretary /Dave Prentis, Unison General Secretary Talha Ahmed, Muslim Council of Britain Treasurer  Mohammed Kozbar, Finsbury Park Mosque Chairman / Rabbi Lee Wax / Michael Rosen, poet / Kevin Maguire, Journalist / Thurston Moore, Musician / Sabby Dhalu and Weyman Bennett, Co-Convenors, Stand Up To Racism / Ged Grebby, Show Racism the Red Card Chief Executive / Richard Burgon MP, Shadow Justice Secretary / Laura Pidcock MP, Shadow Minister for Labour / Cat Smith MP, Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs / David Lammy MP / Emma Dent Coad MP / Marsha De Cordova MP / Andrew Gwynne MP / Lord Peter Hain / Claude Moraes MEP / Julie Ward MEP  Jean Lambert MEP / Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary / Kevin Courtney Joint General Secretary NEU / Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary / Dave Ward, CWU General Secretary / Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary / Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary / Ian Lawrence, NAPO General Secretary / Steve Gillan, POA General Secretary / Manuel Cortes, TSSA General Secretary / Mick Whelan, ASLEF General Secretary / Claudia Webbe, Labour Party NEC & Islington councillor / Rakhia Ismail, Islington Councillor / Gerry Gable, Editor/Publisher, Searchlight / Julia Bard, National Committee, Jewish Socialists’ Group / Salma Yaqoob / Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary / Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition / Shahrar Ali, Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson / Kerry Abel, Abortion Rights Chair / Asad Rehman, War on Want Executive Director / Sam Fairbairn, People's Assembly Against Austerity / Maz Saleem, anti-racism campaigner/ Stand Up To Trump / Dr Siema Iqbal Co-founder of AVOW (Advancing Voices of Women against Islamophobia) / Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, UK Black Pride Executive Director / Roger Huddle and Red Saunders, Rock Against Racism founders / David Rosenberg, Author / Alan Gibbons, author / Tony Kearns Deputy General Secretary (postal) CWU / Ian Hodson - BFWAU National President / Harish Patel, Unite the Union National Equalities Officer / Margaret Greer Unison National Race Equality Officer / Steve Hedley, RMT Deputy General Secretary / Jane Loftus, CWU Vice President / Denis Fernando, Rainbow Coalition

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Bob Blackman accused of hosting Islamophobic speaker at House of Commons event

Tapan Ghosh and Bob Blackman at the House of Commons meeting

Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East and former leader of Brent Conservatives has been accused of hosting an Islamophobic speaker at a House of Commons meeting.

Blackman courted controversy at the General Election by supporting Hindu nationalist opposition to making discrimination against Dalots ('untouchables') unlawful under the Equalities Act. LINK

The Zelo Street blog LINK commenting on Tapan Ghosh claims:

Tapan Ghosh frightens his supporters by repeatedly talking about the Muslim “reproduction rate” - the same tactics as those talking about “breeding”. For him, “moderate” Muslims are “really very small in number”. He endorses wacko fringe websites, which naturally includes Breitbart, Voice of Europe, and of course anything from Hindus who share his worldview. He has endorsed Stephen Yaxley Lennon’s Islamophobic agenda.

All of this is not difficult to discover. Yet Blackman has been happy to host Tapan Ghosh, who dressed up his bigotry in his talk “Tolerating the intolerant” as “800 years of defending human rights”. And that is not all: this talk not only took aim at “800 years of Arabic Islamic aggression” (Muslims in Bengal are not Arabs), but also “200 years of European Christian aggression”. Tapan Ghosh is as anti-Christian as he is anti-Islam.

A few days after the House of Commons meeting, according to Buzz Feed's Aisha Gani LINK, Ghosh met up with Tommy Robinson, former leader of the English Defence League and tweeted:

Other Tories at the meeting included Amber Rudd, Damien Green, Priti Patel and Sajid Javid. They might argue that they did not know Ghosh's reputation and their attendance did not mean they endorsed his views and that it was a wider event to celebrate Diwali but Blackman has no such excuse.

This compilation of tweets demonstrates Ghosh's beliefs:

Click to enlarge

This is much more serious than some of the current controversies surrounding other Members of Parliament.

Hampstead & Kilburn UKIP candidate attacks Islam and admires former EDL leader

Magnus Nielsen, the UKIP candidate in Hampstead and Kilburn, is up to his neck in controversy again this weekend.

The Camden New Journal LINK yesterday published extracts from an 'address to voters'in which Nielsen says:

Although, I am not 'a Prophet', I can see from the trends of the past 25 years show that Britain is slowly but inexorably falling under the domination of Islam - or, I should say, to the self-appointed 'community leaders' who represent Islam - with the silent and invisible certainty of carbon monoxide poisoning.

In a further comment on the EDL he says his repsonse...

....has been equivocal, largely on account of the poor tactics, lack of self-discipline and their failure of its organisers to exclude a publicity-seeking hooligan element from their ranks. However, I applaud the aims and intentions of its former leader, the young man calling himself 'Tommy Robinson', his personal courage in the face of repeated threats to his safety and the safety of his family, and his perseverance against the ill-informed, biased and distorted criticism that he continuously receives from the media. Whether I succeed or fail in my bid to win this seat, I also shall be ready to join with those who are organising ( by peaceful and law-abiding methods) to raise awareness of the menace that Islam poses to the future of our society.

As the CNJ points out Nielsen has been silent on these views at the many H&K hustings.  This means that they have not been open to public scrutiny and debate.

Yet another example of the UKIP mask slipping.