Afzal Khan speaks in the British Parliament
on Islamophobia
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Afzal Khan, Labour Member of Manchester, Gorton, raised the issue of Islamophobia in the British Parliament in November, Islamophobia Awareness Month, on 2 November 2022.
Afzal Khan
(Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)
Afzal Khan, Labour Member of Manchester, Gorton raised a point of order
in the House of Commons, on 2 November 2022. He said, “On a point of order, Mr
Speaker. November marks the beginning of Islamophobia Awareness Month, which is
a call to tackle this insidious hatred. This time last year, to mark the month,
I made a similar point of order, highlighting the then Prime Minister’s failure
to respond to my letter urging him to better safeguard British Muslim
communities. A year on, we have had another two Prime Ministers, and each has
failed to respond to my letters on Islamophobia. That is wholly unacceptable
and it is an insult to British Muslims. Is it in order for consecutive Prime
Ministers to ignore Members’ correspondence? If not, what action can I now
take? Perhaps the Prime Minister could come to this Chamber to make a statement
on Islamophobia Awareness Month.”
Mr. Speaker
In reply to that, the Speaker of the House of Commons said, “I am
grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving notice of his point of order. I can
confirm that I have not had a statement from the Government on this matter,
although Ministers on the Treasury Bench will have heard his points. I am not
responsible for ministerial correspondence, but the right hon. Members he
mentioned were written to in a ministerial capacity and I would have expected
replies to have been provided. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will continue
to pursue the issue that he has raised. If he does not, he should please let me
know. If he would like to drop me a line to tell me which Ministers have failed
to reply, I will take that up in private.”
Twitter from Afzal Khan, MP
On This subject Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM22) Afzal Khan, Labour Member of the British Parliament for the constituency of Manchester, Gorton sent me the following Twitter:
on 30 October 2022 Afzal Khan MP text me the following Twitter:
"British Muslims are victims of the highest proportion of hate crime every year. Yet the Tories simply do not care. Consecutive Tory PM's have ignored my letters urging them to tackle Islamophobia.
Ahead of #IAM22 read my comments for the @Independent.
On 2 November 2022
Afzal Khan MP on Twitter
"I've written to consecutive PM's about Islamophobia & none of them have bothered to reply.
This is an insult to British Muslims.
They may change leaders, but the Conservative Chaos continues.
I raised a point of order @RishiSunak's failure to respond to my letter
#PMQs"
On 23 November 2022 Afzal Khan MP on Twitter sent to me:
"Thank you to all the MPs that attended my Islamophobia Awareness Month drop-in today.
It was great to see cross-party support on this important subject.
Together we can tackle this awful hatred which impacts Muslim communities in the UK and worldwide.
#IAM2022"
On 30 November 2022 Afzal Khan MP on Twitter sent to me:
"For Islamophobia Awarenress Month my friend @benedictrogers and I, have come together as a Christian Conservative and a Muslim Labour MP, to call for an end to religious hatred and promote religious freedom - for everyone, everywhere, no exceptions
Read
https://t.co/cHOUWtK907"
