Much has been made of the supposed impact of the “Muslim vote” at the recent election. The fact that several otherwise safe, mainly Labour, seats were lost to independent candidates in areas where there is a large Muslim population.
Leaving aside for now, if the use of such an all-encompassing term as the “Muslim vote” can accurately explain a community, here are some observations on the recent election.
I start from a glass half full analysis that Britain remains one of the most integrated, cohesive multicultural countries both in Europe and globally.
The struggles and achievements of Black and Asian communities, and decades of campaigning by anti-racism movements, have played a huge part in this success, including the drives for the Scarman Report and MacPherson Inquiry. That led to changing a racist culture in the British Police, to a Police service, which by no means perfect, is vastly improved from the one of my youth. Watch the Channel 4 series Defiance to understand this essential history.
But it’s also the British political, media and culture establishments being more pragmatic and open than in France or Germany in response to Black and Asian communities asserting their rights through campaigns and activism. It’s the reality of multicultural Britain today – music culture, film culture, football culture, youth culture, our music festivals, theatres and museums. This is a reality which often undermines the stance people like Nigel Farage and Reform have taken on immigration.
Many commentators that spoke with praise about the Jewish vote, in areas such as Finchley and Barnet, coming back to Labour after the antisemitism claims against Jeremy Corbyn, are now aghast that another community may vote in some kind of unison. That smells of Islamophobia, racism and double standards.
As someone who as a film and theatre producer works across themes of history, race, culture and community, I have for some time now found myself dealing with issues around British Muslims, community and identity.
Relentless attacks on the community that I come from a long list – Prevent, accusations of self-segregation, unwillingness to integrate, concerns about gender inequality, factors such as economic marginalisation, unemployment, pockets of alienated young people vulnerable to exploitation by bigots and sectarian populists – made worse by the last government’s hostile agenda to British Muslims from Suella Braverman and Michael Gove, as well as Rishi Sunak’s support for Narendra Modi, despite concerns about his anti-Muslim sentiments.
This is also about the same economic and social marginalisation that’s also devasted many white working-class communities, across the North especially. Angela Rayner understands this more than most, having grown up in Ashton in Greater Manchester.
Both Angela and I worked on Ashton market as youths, and it’s a source of some pride that someone like her is now our Deputy Prime Minister.
Twenty years ago, when as Director, I helped lead the creation of The Rich Mix centre in East London, one phrase often used by the staff and trustees was ‘The Local is Global’. I remember discussing this at length with Michael Keith, then Tower Hamlets Council Leader and Denise Jones then Mayor of Tower Hamlets, both Rich Mix Trustees, how waves of migration, trade, the legacy of empire and the Commonwealth has made the East End such a globalised community, with large South Asian communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, as well as those from the West Indies. It’s a story increasingly told now, how people from the countries that Britain colonised, then came to settle in the UK post-1945. The story of East London was familiar to me as a Mancunian, as it will be to those in every major city in the UK, from Bristol to Glasgow.
Look at who built and staffed this country’s infrastructure, transport, public services, the NHS, ran the corner shops and built thousands of small businesses, many of which now are global. If you want to celebrate wealth creators and entrepreneurs, I would be happy to introduce you to many of my family.
Another discussion when we were building Rich Mix was the challenge from those who seek to divide communities – not all of whom had white faces and came with NF or BNP placards.
So how do we deal with divisive actors that come with brown faces? Sectarian activists in Muslim communities spreading division and hate. This is tricky for me, as I have spent most of my life fighting divisive actors with white faces – decades of activism from Rock Against Racism, the anti-apartheid campaigns and the Asian youth movement.
The first thing to do is recognise the genuine rage at the slaughter of over thirty thousand innocent civilians in Gaza by the IDF, and the failure of Britain’s political class to see the lives of the innocent children of Gaza with the same worth, they see the innocent children of Ukraine.
Millions of British citizens, many of them young and not white, will neither forgive nor forget that double standard. They see if for what it is – racism with the excruciating optics of politicians performing, ever more contorted linguistics to defend the indefensible. This hit a peak with our now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s notorious comments on LBC when he said Israel had a right to turn off Gaza’s water supply (although he later, after a fierce backlash to his comments, clarified that this is not what he meant).
Then understand how some Muslim sectarian organisations and individuals will exploit that. These people are nearly all men, and many seem to also have a fondness for Andrew Tate, sharing his misogyny and macho thug culture.
We are dealing with bullies who exploit the Gaza tragedy to suit their domestic agenda. Apart from their misogyny, many of them have simplistic attitudes to Zionism bordering on antisemitic, and their language bristles with hostility to Jewish people.
That why I am pleased to see that the massive Stop the War and Palestinian solidary marches have been inclusive demonstrations of solidarity by people of all backgrounds, with a large Jewish bloc.
This movement has women in prominent roles, such as Zarah Sultana MP. They have been vital in undermining sectarian Muslim-associated groups that seek to spread hatred and division in Britain. I am not going to name them here. Anyone involved in the anti-racist movement or with connections to the British Muslim community knows who they are and how they operate. Conflating Gaza, homophobia and misogyny to boost their profiles in communities makes them no better than brown Tommy Robinsons.
There is now a challenge for this new government. Will Starmer, a Barrister and former Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, whose whole leadership is built on the rule of law, respect international law when it comes to Gaza? His silence as well as his awful statement on LBC showed a man desperate to keep this issue away from his electoral ‘Ming vase’ balancing act.
Many Eyes will also be on Lisa Nandy in her role as culture secretary, given her previous role as Chair, Labour friends of Palestine. As culture secretary she needs to understand how divided some of our communities are, especially young people disillusioned in their own country, because of the double standards applied to the slaughter of innocent civilians in Gaza and Ukraine by our leaders.
One of the legacies of this moment will be how the next generation sees politics.
I will keep calling out the sectarian bigots that seek to divide our communities, whether it’s Andrew Tate fans claiming to be activists for the Ummah or Nigel Farage and GB News. I will also keep campaigning to end the war in Gaza, the slaughter of over thirty thousand innocent civilians in Gaza by the IDF and the destruction of an entire City.
Anwar Akhtar – Director Samosa Media
