Politics
Anti-Muslim hatred in UK at scale never seen before: Home Secretary Sahabana Mahmood
LONDON: British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that anti-Muslim hatred in the United Kingdom is now “on a scale that I’ve never known in my lifetime”.
Speaking at a Spectator fringe event of the Labour annual conference, hosted by Lord Michael Gove, Mahmood said: “When I was a child, I think I was seven or eight years old, that’s the first time I heard the word “Paki” […] so it’s not as if I haven’t been racially abused before”.
“But what is happening now is something much deeper and much more pervasive, and it does feel like it’s everywhere at the moment. Members of my own family, just in the last couple of weeks, you know, a handful of them have been called “f**** Paki” in Birmingham, in places that I go to regularly with my family,” Mahmood noted.
The “heirs to the skinheads and the Paki-bashers of old” were among those who took to the streets of London for the Unite the Kingdom rally, the home secretary remarked.
“While not everyone chanted racist slogans, some did. Clear that in their view of this country, I have no place,” Mahmood said.
Between 110,000 and 150,000 people turned out for the rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson on September 13, according to the Metropolitan Police.
At the Labour Party conference, Mahmood said that “division within this country will grow” if her party fails to address immigration concerns.
In her speech, the home secretary set out a series of conditions for those seeking indefinite leave to remain status.
Under proposed changes, migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community.
They will also need to be working, paying national insurance and not be claiming benefits.
Mahmood told the conference: “Just days into this job, on September 13, 150,000 people marched through London. They did so under the banner of a convicted criminal and a former BNP (British National Party) member. While not everyone was violent, some were, 26 police officers were injured as they tried to keep the peace. And while not everyone chanted racist slogans, some did.”
“Clear that in their view of this country, I have no place. It would be easy to dismiss this as nothing but an angry minority, heirs to the skinheads and the Paki-bashers of old, and make no mistake, some were. But to dismiss what happened that day would be to ignore something bigger, something broader, that is happening across this country. The story of who we are is contested.”
Mahmood said, adding that working-class communities will turn away from Labour and “seek solace in the false promises of [Reform UK leader Nigel] Farage” if the Government fails to act on migration concerns.
She further remarked that: “They will turn towards something smaller, something narrower, something less welcoming, and the division within this country will grow”.
“So the challenge we now face is this, not just to win the next election but to keep the country together and to fight for our belief in a greater Britain, not a littler England.”
The home secretary pointed out that “patriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller, something more like ethno-nationalism”.
The minister defended the Government’s decision to place conditionality on indefinite leave to remain, arguing it is “right” because it is “a two-way street”, when speaking at a fringe event.
Additionally, Mahmood said: “I think sometimes people might feel that adding conditionality may create two tiers of citizenship, potentially, or it’s asking too much of people. But what I would say is, first, I think it’s right that, as a country, we decide that before you are allowed to remain here for good, there are some things that you have to do”.
“And it’s a two-way street, there’s a reciprocal relationship that’s being created here,” she concluded.
A number of Iranian senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have embraced martyrdom in the “unprovoked and unwarranted” airstrikes by Israel and the United States.
As crowds gathered in Tehran, explosions rang out, and the Israeli military announced that it was again striking targets in the heart of the city — as more blasts were heard in Jerusalem, Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Manama.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s assassination a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”
Iranian state media have confirmed the killing of several senior figures:
1. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran
2. Ali Shamkhani, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Supreme Defence Council
3. General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff
4. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
5. Aziz Nasirzadeh, Minister of Defence
6. Gholamreza Rezaian, police intelligence chief of Iran
Separately, the daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter of Ali Khamenei also embraced martyrdom in the US and Israeli airstrikes.
Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations has vehemently denounced the fresh and unprovoked Israeli-American war on the Islamic Republic, asserting that the country will continue to act in self-defense until the end of the unlawful aggression.
Amir-Saeid Iravani made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting on Sunday regarding the joint strikes that were launched against the country earlier on Saturday.
The nation, he stated, was facing armed aggression and a war against international law, which could not be justified by any excuse.
Referring to Iran’s decisive and ongoing retaliatory strikes, under the codename Operation True Promise 4, the envoy said it serves as a legitimate act of self-defense.
The Islamic Republic would continue to exercise its legitimate right to self-defense until the aggression ends, Iravani told the world body.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has so far launched at least five waves of counterstrikes against numerous Israeli and American targets in response to the aggression.
IRGC has pledged to sustain the counterstrikes until the enemies’ “complete defeat,” while noting that the reprisal exceeds by far the proportions of its previous round of retaliations against Tel Aviv’s and Washington’s imposed war on the nation last June.
Addressing the same meeting, Russia’s UN envoy said Iran had been once again “stabbed in the back,” referring to the country’s coming under fresh aggression, while engaging in indirect talks with the United States aimed at resolving standing issues.
Vasily Nebenzya condemned an attack on a school in Iran that took place as part of the renewed aggression, claiming the lives of more than 100 people, calling it a sign of “unjustified aggression” by the Israeli regime and the United States against a UN member state.
He described the atrocities as “unjustifiable” and a “betrayal of diplomacy.”
- PM Modi describes accident as “deeply distressing”.
- Maharashtra CM terms it “extremely unfortunate.”
- Industrial accidents are common in India.
A blast at an explosives factory killed at least 17 people and injured 18 others on Sunday, officials in the western Indian state of Maharashtra said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident was “deeply distressing” and wished a speedy recovery to the survivors.
Maharashtra state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called the incident “extremely unfortunate and tragic” in a post on X.
The accident happened in Nagpur, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) from state capital Mumbai.
“Rescue operations have been accelerated, and so far, 17 people have lost their lives,” Fadnavis said, adding 18 others were injured.
An investigation has been ordered into the incident.
On Saturday, 21 people were killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Industrial accidents are common in India, often due to disregard for safety requirements and lax enforcement.
Last year, a firework factory explosion in western India killed 21 people.
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