British Muslim support for Labour plummets, shock poll finds

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Labour support amongst British Muslims has plummeted, a bombshell opinion poll has revealed amid main issues about Sir Keir Starmer’s dealing with of the Gaza battle.

Backing for Labour from the Muslim neighborhood has fallen from 86 per cent to 60 per cent for the reason that 2019 election, in response to a brand new Survation survey.

Labour Muslim Network, which commissioned the poll, stated it confirmed a “crisis point” for the celebration’s normally robust recognition amongst Muslims voters.

If undecided voters are included – though they weren’t within the comparable 2019 poll – then present support for Labour from British Muslims drops additional to simply 43 per cent.

It comes at a time of heightened rigidity over the celebration’s response to the battle in Gaza, with 38 per cent of British Muslims saying their views of the celebration had change into extra unfavourable over the past 12 months.

“Muslim voters have been watching and are now sending a clear message – they will not support any political party that does not fervently oppose the crimes committed against the people of Gaza,” the Labour’s Muslim Network stated in an announcement on Monday.

The group added: “The Labour leadership must change paths now or risk losing the support of the Muslim community for a generation.”

Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, stated the celebration’s place on a Gaza ceasefire had prompted a number of offended amongst his constituents. “I’ve never seen this quantity of emails coming through my inbox,” he informed ITV News.

Sir Keir has confronted big strain from the celebration’s grassroots left and pro-Palestine campaigners over his preliminary refusal to again a right away ceasefire within the wake of the eruption of violence in October.

Ten frontbenchers additionally give up over his dealing with of the Gaza invasion which adopted the Hamas terror assault which noticed round 1,200 Israelis killed and 240 taken hostage.

In December, Sir Keir started calling for a “sustainable ceasefire”, as he and different leaders amongst Israel’s western allies started to maneuver away from unqualified support for strikes on Gaza.

Mish Rahman, a left-wing Labour NEC member, informed The Independent that there have been different, wider components at play for the lack of support. “These findings are deeply worrying but unsurprising. For months I have been alarmed by the Labour leadership’s willingness to turn a blind eye to Islamophobia within the party.

“Whether it’s the sheer disregard for Palestinian lives, the mistreatment of Muslim MPs like Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana, or the refusal to take on bigots within their own ranks, it’s clear that the leadership is not taking this issue seriously.”

He added: “This poll should be a wake-up call to change course before it’s too late.”

Last week, Apsana Begum, the UK’s first and solely hijab-wearing MP, criticised the Labour celebration’s management over extreme delays with its inside probe into alleged harassment she skilled by the hands of her ex-husband, a fellow Labour politician.

The MP for Poplar and Limehouse, who’s a Muslim, has accused her celebration of failing in its obligation of care to her as she continues to await the end result of the investigation virtually three years later.

Ms Begum additionally famous what she described as “unresolved issues” concerning the therapy of Black and Asian folks throughout the Labour Party as highlighted within the damning Forde Report.

The MP additionally stated she has confronted heightened Islamophobic abuse, dying threats and dangers to her security. The Labour’s Muslim Network stated: “The treatment of Apsana Begum is nothing short of a scandal”.

This comes as Kate Osamor, MP for Edmonton, was suspended from Labour earlier this week after referring to Israel’s assaults on Palestine as a “genocide”, language echoed in a current evaluation of the state of affairs by the International Court of Justice.

Other Black and Asian Labour MPs have publicly criticised the celebration in current occasions.

Last 12 months, Diane Abbott stated in an announcement posted on X/Twitter: “As a Black woman, and someone on the left of the Labour Party, I have unfortunately been forced to reach the conclusion that I will not get a fair hearing from this Labour leadership.”

Ms Abbott, Britain’s first Black girl MP, now sits as an impartial MP following her suspension from Labour pending an investigation right into a letter she wrote about racism to the Observer final 12 months.

Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, known as for an Islamophobia probe throughout the celebration in November after slamming Sir Keir’s assault advertisements in opposition to Rishi Sunak for “playing on racist tropes of Asian men”.