06 February 2016

Muslim Labour councillors 'sabotaged and blocked Muslim women from standing for election'

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to act after a Birmingham women’s group claimed male Muslim councillors were blocking female Muslims from standing for election because of ‘systematic misogyny’.

Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) has made an official complaint to the party claiming female candidates had been ‘undermined, sabotaged and blocked’ from standing for public office.

In a letter to the Labour leader Shaista Gohir, chair of the group, wrote: “As this is an open secret and has been going on for decades, we can only assume that the Labour party has been complicit at the highest levels.

“How do men who do not want Muslim women to be empowered or have a voice remain in power unless the Labour party allows it?

"It appears that over decades senior Labour politicians have deliberately turned a blind eye to the treatment of Muslim women because votes have been more important to them than women’s rights.” [Birmingham Mail] Read more