Category Archives: UK

The right to incite religious hatred: Brendan O’Neill rallies to the defence of fascists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP heroin leaflet

Over at spiked, the website of the cranky sect formerly known as the Revolutionary Communist Party, there is a particularly silly and ignorant article by Brendan O’Neill calling for the repeal of the 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act, which he describes as “an attack on what is for spiked the most important freedom of all, the freedom upon which all other freedoms are built, the freedom without which we cannot be free-thinking, free-associating, independent citizens: freedom of speech”. The legisation was, O’Neill asserts, motivated by an “outrageously Orwellian desire to make it a crime to ridicule religion”.

Continue reading →

Council calls on EDL to scrap planned protest in Dudley

Posted on by Bob Pitt

English Defence League Protest

Councillors are calling on the English Defence League (EDL) to scrap a planned protest in Dudley town centre. The proposed demonstration is set for Saturday July 17 and the authority has no powers in law to ban the event which it branded “a pointless waste of taxpayers’ money”.

A previous protest by the group in the town last April cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds for a massive operation involving large numbers of police officers and council workers. Dudley traders also paid a high price in lost business after Dudley town centre was closed for the day, which ended with ugly scenes when EDL marchers clashed with cops after breaking out of their designated protest area on Flood Street car park.

A council spokesperson said: “The EDL has opposed the former proposal for a mosque but the council has reiterated the fact that the authority and the Dudley Muslim Association have agreed to pursue an alternative site, making the EDL’s visit pointless. Council bosses have made it clear outside extremists can make no contribution to local decisions and reminded the EDL that the plans for a mosque on Hall Street are not currently being pursued.”

Dudley News, 6 July 2010

‘Swimming pool blacked out to appease Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslims force pool cover upTown hall chiefs were yesterday accused of “political correctness gone stark-raving mad” for forcing pool users to swim in the gloom to protect Muslim women’s modesty. The bizarre council diktat is the latest example of bureaucrats taking an extreme decision to avoid upsetting a minority group.

Residents are outraged after council chiefs ordered the windows of their glass-panelled swimming pool to be blacked out after complaints were received from Muslim groups. That has meant all swimmers at Darlaston Leisure Centre in Walsall, West Midlands, have been forced to swim in a darkened, gloomy pool.

The centre won plaudits from architects for its “ultra-modern” design when it opened to the public 10 years ago. But now council staff have covered ground-level ­windows with opaque film at a cost of £1,400 following complaints, mainly from Muslims concerned that they might be spotted in their swimwear.

Regular users of the pool are furious that the tinted windows, installed a fortnight ago, have plunged the pool into gloom – and all in the name of political correctness.

Jean Merchant, from Wolverhampton, said: “Regular swimmers should boycott the pool for as long as the film is in place. It seems they are not bothered about what we find offensive, as long as the Muslim community is kept happy.”

Retired building surveyor John Ewart, 63, from Walsall, said: “I cannot believe this council has agreed to something so loony. The whole thing smacks of political correctness gone stark raving mad.”

Daily Express, 6 July 2010

Continue reading →

Hidden cameras in parts of Birmingham ‘will be removed’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hidden cameras in areas of Birmingham with large Muslim populations will be removed and any counter terrorism involvement stopped, police say.

A total of 218 cameras – 72 hidden – were put up in the Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook districts and paid for from a Home Office counter-terrorism fund. Residents said they were not consulted about it. Sharon Rowe, Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, apologised and said “mistakes had been made”.

The CCTV and number plate recognition cameras have not been switched on and officials involved promised full public consultation last month.

About 300 people attended a public meeting at the Bordesley Centre in the Sparkbrook area of the city on Sunday to discuss the issue. Senior police, council officers, politicians and civil liberty campaigners addressed the audience as well as campaigners fighting to get the cameras removed.

BBC News, 5 July 2010

See also “Covert spycam u-turn”, The Stirrer, 4 July 2010

And Birmingham Mail, 5 July 2010

The video above is of Salma Yaqoob’s speech at yesterday’s rally (via Socialist Unity). Other speeches can be viewed here.

London nightclub owner says he will boycott Muslim businesses

Posted on by Bob Pitt

XXL_logoOne of London’s leading gay club owners sparked controversy today after posting an online rant about British Muslims, PinkPaper.com can exclusively report.

The entrepreneur – who was responding on Facebook to a story on the Evening Standard site entitled Protestors Fight Police in Clashes Outside Mosque – vowed to boycott Muslim-owned businesses in response to recent unrest in East London. He also tried to justify his decision by reference to the death toll of British troops in Afghanistan, which has this month risen above 300.

PinkPaper.com has been trying to contact Mark Ames of club XXL in London to ask how he justified his remarks. We also wanted to double-check his Facebook account hadn’t been hacked although similar remarks have been made in his previous posts.

Ames – or someone posing as him – wrote: “From today I will be boycotting any shops, petrol stations restaurants or businesses I know are owned by Muslims this also includes holidays to muslim [sic] countries today see [sic] our death toll up to 300, so why the hell are we not just flying this scum back out to there beloved states and pull out and let them fight out there [sic] own issues!

“Funny thing is most of there parent’s would have used I am escaping the brutal rules of muslim society when they arrived on UK shores many years ago!” [sic]

Unsurprisingly, the comments have sparked criticism. One PinkPaper.com reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us: “I find this remark absolutely disturbing from anybody. But from the gay community? I am shocked.”

Pink Paper, 29 June 2010

See also “XXL owner Mark Ames slammed for Muslim boycott”, Pink Paper, 30 June 2010

Via Islam in Europe

Update:  A Facebook group “Bears Against Bigotry” has been formed to oppose Ames’s Islamophobic views. They haveannounced:

“Bears Against Bigotry have decided to march in Pride London along side and in solidarity with Imaan the LGBT Muslim Support Group this Saturday. We have chosen to do this to show that bears, their friends, families and admirers support a non-bigoted, tolerant and inclusive view of LGBTQ communities.”

Muslim pupils taken out of music lessons ‘because Islam forbids playing an instrument’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Music Class

Schools are allowing Muslim families to withdraw their children from music lessons because learning an instrument is forbidden according to some Islamic beliefs.

Hundreds of pupils are thought to have been removed from state school music classes despite the subject forming part of the statutory National Curriculum.

Parents have no automatic right to withdraw their children from subjects such as music, although legal exemptions exist for religious and sex education.

However, in one London primary school about 20 pupils were removed from rehearsals for a Christmas musical and one five-year-old girl remains permanently withdrawn from mainstream music classes.

The details, which emerged after a BBC investigation, provoked concerns from Ofsted and education experts. Some Muslims believe that playing musical instruments is forbidden in the same way that alcohol is banned.

Evening Standard, 1 July 2010

See “Muslim parents ‘banning children from music lessons'”, BBC News, 1 July 2010

So a tiny minority of Muslim parents withdraw their children from music lessons. Is that revelation of such importance as to qualify it to be the lead item on this evening’s BBC London Tonight programme? Viewers were invited to send in their comments, which were of course uniformly negative. You can just imagine the sort of racist opinions the report must have provoked but which were not read out on air. This sort of irresponsible reporting just feeds an Islamophobic narrative that depicts Muslims as an alien presence in British society.

Continue reading →

Posted in UK

Speak out against spy cameras in Birmingham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

On Sunday, there will be a public rally organised by Birmingham Against Spy Cameras (BASC) in opposition to the mass surveillance scheme being implemented in the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath areas of Birmingham. I will be one of the speakers at the rally, which brings together a diverse range of organisations and individuals who strongly oppose the scheme and are calling for it to be scrapped. Come and find out why, and add your voice to the campaign.

Birmingham Against Spy Cameras
Sunday 4 July
4.30 pm
The Bordesley Centre
(Camp Hill roundabout, Stratford Road, B11 1AR)

The event will be chaired by broadcaster and journalist Adrian Goldberg and speakers confirmed so far include:

SHAMI CHAKRABARTI, Director of Liberty

GARETH PEIRCE, human rights lawyer

SALMA YAQOOB (Leader of the Respect Party and Councillor for Sparkbrook)

ALEX DEANE, (Director, Big Brother Watch)

RAY GASTON (Methodist minister, Inter-faith enabler and author)

JOHN HEMMING (LibDem MP for Birmingham Yardley)

TANVEER CHOUDHRY (Lib Dem councillor, Springfield ward)

Salma Yaqoob’s website, 1 July 2010

EDL rioted at St George’s Day parade, court told

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The English Defence League, a far-right anti-Islamic political group, have been blamed for “hijacking” a St George’s Day parade in Ruislip and rioting in the street.

One of the police officers who dealt with the trouble outside The Bell pub in West End Road, on April 23, told a court today (Wednesday) that many of those causing trouble were seen to be wearing polo shirts emblazoned with the English Defence League (EDL).

At the trial of a 24-year-old man, charged with assaulting a police officer and with a public order offence during the incident, Uxbridge Magistrates Court heard that between 70 and 80 people were involved in disrupting the parade from RAF Northolt.

Martyn Harris, 24, from Greenford, pleaded guilty to using threatening and abusive behaviour but denied assaulting PC Williamson. The officer said: “Mr Harris’s behaviour was consistent of the entire crowd. There were a lot of people claiming to be from the English Defence League, that had hijacked the parade.”

Up to 500 people had gathered to enjoy a barbecue, live music and the arrival of the parade outside The Bell when trouble began and a group began fighting. There has not been any violence at the event before and the pub landlord said at the time that “outsiders” were to blame.

Judge Deborah Wright said: “This sounds like it was a riot. A very serious matter where police were struggling to control the crowd.”

It was heard that Mr Harris had been one of the aggressors in the violence. Prosecution lawyer, Nikki Onuma-Elliot, said: “Mr Harris lunged toward PC Williamson, f-ing and shouting. He continued this behaviour and was warned to stand back.

“But he kept pushing the officer and swinging arms, trying to provoke violence. He was pushed back but kept advancing. As he was being arrested Harris was being extremely violent and said ‘f-ing mug’ and ‘I’m f-ing going to do you.'”

Uxbridge Gazette, 30 June 2010