Author: Severin Carrell
Publication: The Independent
Date: September 21, 2003
URL: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=445442
Loyalist Labour MPs and ministers
who backed the war in Iraq face a backlash from Muslim voters, say community
leaders.
Ihtisham Hibatullah, a spokesman
for the Muslim Association of Britain, said Labour's defeat in Brent on
Thursday was a "clear warning" to other Labour MPs to change policy on
Iraq and on their support for President George Bush.
Muslim activists are targeting a
number of prominent MPs who hold seats with large numbers of Muslim voters,
particularly the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in Blackburn and the east
London MPs Oona King, Jim Fitzpatrick and Stephen Timms.
The association, which helped organise
the mass anti-war marches in London earlier this year, claims that Sarah
Teather won the Brent East seat partly because it had urged Muslims in
the north-west London constituency to vote Liberal Democrat.
Mr Hibatullah said anger at the
Government's war in Iraq, its stance over Afghanistan, its policies on
the Middle East and its active support for President George Bush's "war
on terror" has severely affected Muslim support for Labour.
"This isn't an anti-Labour mobilisation
at the moment," he said. "It's about stopping the warmongers. We want an
ethical foreign policy. We have a very substantial vote bank which, if
channelled, could be very effective."
At the same time, left-wing groups
inside the Stop the War Coalition are planning to launch a broader anti-New
Labour agenda at their rally in London next weekend. This will include
attacking Tony Blair's leadership, a "national oil day" demonstration at
petrol stations and burning effigies of the Prime Minister and President
Bush.
These threats and Thursday's Brent
East result will make many Labour MPs uncomfortable since Muslim immigrants,
particularly from Pakistan and India, are traditionally staunch Labour
voters.
In east London, mosque leaders are
discussing putting up anti-Labour candidates at the next general election.
Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News,
said that Muslim voters were generally young, and were more politically
motivated than their parents. Muslims were also joining some local Labour
parties - such as Harrow, held by Gareth Thomas, and Ms King's Bethnal
Green constituency - to try to influence local party policy.
In Blackburn, which has 26,000 Muslim
voters, Mr Straw has already faced fierce criticisms from Asian Labour
councillors and local mosques over policy on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mr Timms, the energy minister, has
also been confronted by local mosque leaders in his constituency.
"At the next election, Straw will
have a lot of problems," Mr Versi said.
