Muslim politicians have condemned claims by a former Birmingham vicar that Islam is receiving preferential treatment at the expense of Christianity.
Guy Wilkinson, former vicar of Small Heath, said the Government had given “privileged attention” to Muslim communities and spent public money in an attempt to win them over. He is now interfaith advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and made the comments in a report for the House of Bishops.
But the claims were denied by MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr), who said: “It’s simply not true that the Government has diverted funding to Muslim organisations.” Birmingham councillor Salma Yaqoob (Respect Sparkbrook) said: “There is attention focused on Muslims but it’s extremely negative and we’d rather not have it.”
“Since Jack Straw ignited a national debate by saying constituents who wear the niqab, leaving only their eyes exposed, made him uncomfortable, Muslim women’s views have got extensive and respectful coverage. They claim Mr Straw has saddened and insulted them. But what about the way the veil makes the majority of British women feel?
Gordon Brown threw his weight behind Jack Straw last night and declared that it would be better for Britain if fewer Muslim women wore veils.
The government will fund Muslim groups according to how active they are in fighting extremism, the communities secretary said today, warning that paying “lip service” to the struggle was not good enough.
“For many Muslim women in Britain and Europe, the decision to wear a veil is not about ‘internalising oppression’. It is a statement of identity adopted in the face of rising Islamophobia and government demands to step through yet one more hoop to prove you are a ‘good Muslim’.
Leading race campaigner Lee Jasper attacked the British media for “double standards” after the case of two white far-right activists arrested over a massive suspected bomb-making operation was ignored. Jasper, secretary of the National Assembly Against Racism, contrasted the virtually non-existent coverage given to the alleged terrorism haul with the media firestorm around Muslim terrorism.
“Sunday saw people gathering to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the great battle of Cable Street. On that day progressive people of all kinds rallied to protect the significant minority of immigrants in London’s east end against the strutting jackboots of a domestic fascism, one of whose very arguments was against the very ‘separateness’ of the Jews who lived there. Their very garb, unusual diets, habits of living in close proximity to each other was a standing affront to the beef-eating Englishness of the Moselyites. ‘Leave the Jews alone’ was the response of the best of the British left. Let them eat dress and live as they want. It is a call that should be echoed about today’s whipping boys, the Muslims.”