Two more Muslim MPs
Here’s a hearty piece of news:
PM Gordon Brown has promoted both of his two junior Muslim ministers among government changes aimed to restore Labour`s declining popularity ahead of the next general election, which is due to be held by May 2010.
The two Muslim MPs in question are: Shahid Malik and Sadiq Khan.
Given that support for Labour by Britain’s two million Muslims has fallen away in droves following the Iraq war, this promotion can only be seen as a cynical ploy to win them back, hearts, minds and all. However, it is unlikely that Labour can ever go back to enjoying the guaranteed unconditional support Muslims traditionally lent them.
OK, so both Malik and Khan were opposed to the Iraq war and were vocal in their disapproval of Blair’s support of Israel’s bombing of Lebanon in 2006. But it is important to note, not to mention convenient for Brown, that these two Muslim MPs also voted for ID cards and were both for extending the pre-charge detention to 42 days.
Neither of these two (Muslim) MPs have much of a record for voting against the party line. So why exactly should two more Muslim Labour MPs (bringing the total to four) placate Muslim voters? Simply because they are Muslims? Surely an MP’s voting record and their policies are more important than their religious and racial affiliations. However, I fear that Muslims will fall for this kind of thing because of a phenomenon known as Muslamism.
Let it be known that Labour are not averse to a bit of cheesey sectarianism and cynical identity politics when it suits them.
| Post to del.icio.us |
Filed in: Race politics
Not to distract from the point of your post but there are still only four muslim MPs in Parliament. Brown has just promoted two of them. Even he can’t just create new MPs. Yet.
Given that support for Labour by Britain’s two million Muslims has fallen away in droves following the Iraq war, this promotion can only be seen as a cynical ploy to win them back,
Care to explain why it can only be seen that way? I happen to know both of them, Shahid rather better than Sadiq, but I’d say they were both perfectly worthy of promotion.
Personally I think maybe you should go and talk to the Muslims of Kurdistan and ask them what they felt about the removal of the fascist butcher Sadaam Hussein.
And if you really believe this:
Surely an MP’s voting record and their policies are more important than their religious and racial affiliations
What is the point of your ludicrous post in the first place?
What a useless post.
Its core message seems to me both very depressing and at odds with what pickled politics is about. What is your point? Government can never promote MPs from a minority background as that would be cheesy sectarianism, even if promoted on merit. Total bollocks.
Are you also seeing David Lammy’s promotion as pandering to the Afro-Caribbean community, or could that be about his personal contribution to the government instead? Is the promotion of Liam Byrne to be seen through the lens of the government’s relationship with the Essex/Harlow based community, and that of Ed Miliband in terms of its ability to reconnect with North London intellectuals? Is Parmjit Dhanda leaving the government a message to Brits of Indian origin?
No. So why take this approach to MPs and ministers who are also Muslims.
I declare an interest, having worked with Sadiq Khan on his recent Fabian pamphlet. I don’t personally know Shahid Malik as well but he’s hard working and well respected. But its simply disgraceful to complain about pigeon-holing and to insist on keeping everybody in their identity box.
(And of course they were both already MPs, and both were already in government, Sadiq Khan in the whips office).
Are you also seeing David Lammy’s promotion as pandering to the Afro-Caribbean community, or could that be about his personal contribution to the government instead? Is the promotion of Liam Byrne to be seen through the lens of the government’s relationship with the Essex/Harlow based community, and that of Ed Miliband in terms of its ability to reconnect with North London intellectuals? Is Parmjit Dhanda leaving the government a message to Brits of Indian origin?
The problem with your statement above is this: Labour has not lost the wholesale support of the Afro-Caribbean community, the Essex/Harlow based community, “North London intellectuals” (is that a euphemism?) nor Brits of Indian origin following the disastrous war with Iraq, so its not an efficacious comparison.
I am not playing down Malik and Khan’s abilities. I am just questioning their promotion *now*, given Labour’s very recent history and the inescapably large hole in their support-base which used to be filled with votes from dependable Muslim communities. Do you agree that that’s now long gone?
Wow, you sure do provoke a Stalinist reaction if you dare criticise the mighty Labour party at the moment.
Look guys just because you got favourite Prince of Darkness back and the PLP has fallen into line doesn’t mean the rest of us lefties have too.
Sid, I have much to complain about your post. Well at least your link to that rather pathetic Eteraz piece.
That said Gordon Brown would have been in a better position if he had actually tied Hazel Blears to the ducking stool himself.
Sid, I have much to complain about your post.
Thanks!
But I’m still trying to figure out which racial/religious group Sunder Kantwala was referring to by “North London intellectuals”. Are they the same as “North London businessmen”? Chairwoman would have confirmed, I’m sure.
Sid
I am not sure where this article is going… Most of the MPs in Parliament with ministerial portfolios are probably not representing just the region and the racial/religious group… so why single out the only few ‘Muslim’ MPs?
Leon
“Wow, you sure do provoke a Stalinist reaction if you dare criticise the mighty Labour party at the moment.
Look guys just because you got favourite Prince of Darkness back and the PLP has fallen into line doesn’t mean the rest of us lefties have too.”
No – criticising Sid’s post on this particular point isn’t actually about not being able to handle criticism of New Labour. You’re being defensive. The point is why is the post asking us to look at those particular MPs through a Mulsim constituency? Sure – among another things, these MPs might address Muslim issues now and then, but given the fact that Muslims are a section of the great British population, I’d suggest all MPs, including the BNP take a leaf out of their page – that’s what representation means, you get voted in to represent a constituency of many shades/perspectives.
As to describing the rest of us as Lefties, yes, some of us are, but as someone pointed out in a previous thread , it is going to take some time before Pickled Politics finds its progressive feet, I might also add, it’s lefist feet. Why? Precisely because there is a tendency in Pickled Politics to post like this – which isn’t particularly left-minded as far as I can see…
PS
Have you looked at the track records of many under-secretraries at the moment? That would be wise. Just as an example, even before Sadiq Khan entered politics he was working with the one of the best, I’d would say, THE best human rights legal firm in the United Kingdom ( unless I am mistaken and this isn’t the same Sadiq Khan who worked at Christian Fisher). I can’t say this about many MPs at the moment.
The firm is now Christian Khan, Mike Fisher left years ago. He was one of the best criminal defence lawyers in the country. I think this is the Khan you are talking about.
Nicj Griffin is putting a brave face on the fiasco at Bethnal Green on Sunday. After fourty eight hours they have given their version of events. The real story will be in the East London Advertiser tomorrow and it is on line.
I think Nick suspects he has got an informer somewhere at the centre of the party.
halima,
I wasn’t being critical of the abilities of Messrs Malik and Khan. Nor was I was disparaging their sincerity, nor their credentials, nor their suitability for their new roles. Sadiq Khan in particular could have been handed this portfolio years ago.
What I *am* criticising is Labour’s gameplan and their intentions by promoting these two guys at this particular point in time. My post is simply reflecting on how Labour is using the promotion of two new Muslim MPs to shore up votes from the Muslim community, which have largely slaked away after the Iraq war.
I was hoping that that the comments would be a discussion on those lines rather than on whether the 2 Muslim MPs are fit for the job. They’re obviously eminently fit for their jobs, but that was never my question. My question was whether their promotion is a tactical vote-sopping execercise designed to placate the Muslim community? I think to some extent, it is.
Hi Sid,
Okay , I am listening to you! And to Leon.
I was confused which happens a lot.. I mis-understood your point. Will shut up now!:)
“The firm is now Christian Khan, Mike Fisher left years ago. He was one of the best criminal defence lawyers in the country”
Bill….Thanks for pointing out – I always had a lot of respect for this firm.
Will check out news in the east end advertiser…
I was confused which happens a lot.. I mis-understood your point. Will shut up now!:)
Hi halima
Please don’t shut up on PP.
I admit my post was ambiguous but certainly not “useless”
As for the comment made my another PP regular on another thread that “it is going to take some time before Pickled Politics finds its progressive feet”.
I would take that suggestion more seriouly had it not come from the likes of Refresh. He is continuously complaining about PP’s progressive creds but his own progressiveness involves contextualising the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood and/or Ahmadinejad because of some woolly and fluffy support based on “anti-globalism” and “self-determination” or some such other dubious and malformed sentimentalism.
Halima,
You mustn’t apologise. Sid almost always overreaches. I appreciate his sentiment on this particular occasion, but consider how he has dealt with it.
He seems, mistakenly, to identify the Iraq war to be specifically of interest to muslims, when we all know its widespread however much New Labour wants us to think otherwise. It is presented in the form of identity politics, when there is much more that binds the interests of the muslim community to the broader public. Even today. Despite the politics of fear.
His link to that Eteraz ‘Goodness Gracious Me-style’ script is a case in point.
Sid,
keep it simple. You’ll get more mileage.
Sunder,
glad to see that you and Sadiq Khan were responsible for the pamphlet. I appreciated its sentiment.
Apart from one very specific point, which was calling on muslims to forget Iraq. I found that disconcerting, no one should forget Iraq, and if that call was to be made it should have been to the whole country – and I am sure the response would have been a resounding raspberry and a one-finger salute. I would go as far as to say, there isn’t a sentient being on the planet who would want to forget Iraq.
I don’t think its wise to make it a muslim-only issue when it clearly isn’t. I would not want Sadiq and other MPs to fall into the trap of playing identity politics, at the cost of an undeserving community.
Sid,
I point out very simple and often gross distortions by you and you presume them to be a view one way or another. Just accept the corrections (if warranted of course) and continue to develop your argument.
I am now going to shock you, and type the phrase ‘muslim brotherhood’ for the first time in my existence. Lets see what you can do with that.
As a non Muslim I agree with Refresh. No-one should forget the abomination that was Gulf War 2. It ought to go down in history as an atrocity…..I expect it will.
Refresh,
I presume you don’t so much support the Muslim Brotherhood or the Hamas or come up with some very sorry pretexts for supporting them (“self determination” and/or “globalism”) as want to come across as some kind of PP contrarian. Because although you are expert in critiquing views you always shy away from, or should I say fall short of, actually articulating what your views actually are, when pushed.
Your continuity and consistency is also shot because, and I will shock you here, it has always been you whom we can rely on for pushing the sentimental line of the Muslim on the street by suggesting that foreign policy has been a factor for radicalism at worst or the falling away of support for New Labour.
The original story is from a website called Mathaba news dot com, which takes the position that Muslim Labour supporters have been the largest group who have abandoned Labour support because of the Iraq war. Surely there is no argument with that statement nor is it “identity politics” to suggest that it is.
You can’t take the position that foreign policy affects Muslim radicalisation (as you have done in the past) *AND* at the same time deny that the anti-terrorism tactics of Labour and the Iraq war has not caused widespread Muslim disaffection. Here you on this thread suggesting that identity politics does not exist whereas you have been one of the biggest pushers of identity politics here on PP.
Beware of contrarianism; its like walking around with your shoelaces untied. Sometimes you might just trip over.
Sid
Why all these machinations when all you have to do is accept my observation on your post is also valid.
Refresh
I would if I could find one that was consistent.
Apart from one very specific point, which was calling on muslims to forget Iraq. I found that disconcerting, no one should forget Iraq, and if that call was to be made it should have been to the whole country – and I am sure the response would have been a resounding raspberry and a one-finger salute. I would go as far as to say, there isn’t a sentient being on the planet who would want to forget Iraq.
Labour are the first to claim that foreign policy does not cause radicalism but here they are writing papers that call to muslims to forget Iraq. I wonder why?
I haven’t read Katwala’s and Khan’s paper but if they are exhorting muslims to forget Iraq it is because they recognise that Iraq is the *ONE* foreign policy issue which has driven away muslims from New Labour in droves. There is a reason why they have directed that call to Muslims rather than to the whole country and it is the very reason why Khan and Sadiq have been promoted to senior positions in the government.
Muslims should not forget Iraq just because Labour tells them to but nor should they remember it simply because they feel they must “as Muslims”.
First the advent of the Islamist and the Jihadist, now you can be a Muslimist. Waiting for the Scientology Pagoda of Jehova’s Mohammadists.
‘Labour are the first to claim that foreign policy does not cause radicalism but here they are writing papers that call to muslims to forget Iraq. I wonder why?’
We should draw the distinction between anger and radicalism. We should also welcome the fact that people are able to express their distate through the ballot box.
Excellent points Refresh (#24).
You complain they are being promoted at this time.
Well, they are are either good enough to be promoted or they are not. And it sure as hell would be discrimination not to promote them (at the same time as everybody else – ie in the recent reshuffle) because they are Muslims or because some idiot on a blog would say it was all a gameplan.
If you don’t think they are good enough to be promoted at least have the guts to say so. if you think they are good enough, then wtf was this all about?
24.
yes, eat my radical anger.
personally the only interesting seat is the battle for bethnal green and bow. it’ll be a brown out, but with more characters this time and it expresses more. who gives a monkey that shahid malik had a DfID role? Any organisation that works with DfID is full of charity case monkeys. how appropriate.
Muslamism is a stupid idea, a close inbred cousin of the concept of ‘Sid-having-anything-of-value-to-say’.
The two ministers are very qualified to be ministers. And both should have been promoted earlier.
But them going against Blair and signing that letter which accelerated is departure might be more of a reason than them being Muslims.
And, if I am right the FabiAn Society could not wait for Blair to go — so Sunder getting irked about Sid’s post does not surprise me.
One point though, the Labour Government has made multi culturalism its mantra for building a cohesive society. But I guess they dont have too many qualified Blacks or Asians in the Labour Party in the House of Commons, because since Paul Boateng left Government, we havent had a cabinet minister (from the Commons) who is BME.
Please do not interpret this as making a race accusation — its an observation.
According to Guardian, Parmjit was fired because he depended on Civil Service advice and not the labour activists in Hammersmith when he made decisions in Government. or maybe he was totally incompetent – I dont know. But maybe, there is a quota of only 2 Asian junior ministers in Government. Unless of course, you are a Brown cronie like Vadera – then you get to go to the House of Lords.
Better check the colour of the moon tonight, i agree with fug on something.
‘can only be seen as’
Has any article that contained that phrase ever had anything-of-value-to-say?
It seems to directly translate as ‘I don’t know anything about the subject I am talking about, so therefor …’.
yikes! Looks like I’ve managed to get up the noses of the Brownite think tankers, the clueless Islamists and the pro-war lefters in one single post.
Oh what a lonely furrow I plough.
When everyone tells you you are an idiot, it is true you might really be an unrecognised genious whose wisdom will shine like a burning beacon to generations to come.
Just keep the alternative in mind.
The only criticism I’ve taken seriously are those who have taken issue with the *content of the post* and have given their considered reasons – such as Sunder and Refresh. Both of whose opinions I respect.
Those who have resorted to name-calling have offered no useful criticism other than, well, name-calling, which is cool but a dead-end I won’t be going down, thanks.
I don’t give a fig who it upsets but New Labour’s full of slimeballs. Getting some celebrity’s sister, like Rupa Huq, isn’t going to make individuals like myself vote for them.
You’ve got my support for your post Sid. And I sort of like the Muslimist link to Jewcy.