Category Archives: UK

National newspaper is prejudiced and skewing halal debate, says MP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sun Halal Secret of Pizza ExpressMP Yasmin Qureshi has accused national newspapers of prejudice in the debate over the ethics of halal and kosher meat. The MP for Bolton South East spoke in parliament over the practice of slaughtering meat in line with Islamic law.

The issue hit the headlines last week after The Sun newspaper reported how restaurant Pizza Express serves halal chicken without stating it on its menu. In the House of Commons Ms Qureshi slammed the publication for “skewing the debate” without fully informing people about studies which show Islamic slaughter – via a deep incision to a vein in the neck – is less painful to animals than stunning them first.

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Race row erupts after Brent UKIP candidate slates Muslims in ranting email

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Heino VockrodtA UKIP candidate in Brent has been drawn into a race row after he lambasted Muslims in a ranting email to planning chiefs.

Heino Vockrodt, who is standing for the Dudden Hill seat on May 22, accused Muslims of grooming sex slaves, compared a Willesden road to war torn Helmand Province and claimed Islam was an ideology not a religion. The 52-year-old financial and commercial consultant also claimed Islam was against ‘everything modern Britain stands for’ during his correspondence.

In the email, seen by the Times, Mr Vockrodt also labelled town hall bosses as “Yes-Sayers, Appeasement Chamberlains and look-The-Other-Way cowards” for allegedly turning a blind eye on developments of an Afghan centre in Willesden in fear of being called racists. According to Mr Vockrodt the centre had ignored planning rules to carry out developments on its building despite being turned down twice by the council.

He said: “…just like in all the other cases where Muslims are grooming to sex slaves under the eyes of the authorities, the council does NOTHING for political correctness (not that there is any).” He continued: “All the old owners of the neighbouring shops have been squeezes out by Muslims. The entire parade –once lovely owner/occupier shops –resembles Helmand province now. Time to call MI5 & MI6 for sure.”

He added: “Islam is a mono-cultural, totalitarian ideology. It is NOT a religion. It is against multi-culturalism and only promotes its own culture. It is against everything modern Britain stands for.”

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Let’s be honest about Britain’s Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

It’s happening again. It never really goes away, but, for different reasons, it tends to come in periodic bursts.

What am I talking about? Britain’s latest frenzy of Islamophobic incitement.

The familiar elements are all present. Demands for communal apologies, for explanations and justifications. Come on, the crowd shrieks, convince us that you belong here! Assure us that we’re safe with you in our midst! Deny links to the Taliban, condemn Boko Haram, and publicly renounce Al-Qaeda for us all to see!

Ben White writes at the Huffington Post, 14 May 2014

Call for ‘Muzzer blood’ to be spilled over plan to rebuild Farnworth mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bolton BNP and Frank Whittle
Bolton BNP protesting against the Sughra Mosque development and (right) Frank ‘Muzzer blood’ Whittle

Earlier this month Bolton Council’s planning committee unanimously approved plans by the Sughra Masjid to demolish their existing one-storey place of worship, which has occupied the site since 1987, and replace it with a three-storey building.

Hardly a terrifying example of the creeping Islamification of Farnworth, you might think, but that hasn’t prevented the far right from whipping its supporters up into their usual racist frenzy over the issue.

An online petition against the development has been launched, with the backing of the fascist Bolton Patriot website. So far it has attracted over 500 signatures, along with the usual vituperative abuse of Muslims (“Cannot believe how the western wold allows the scourge of the world race who are so barbaric and full of hatred take over. Absolutely sickens me. I cannot stand what they stand for and don’t even consider them human”).

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Halal meat labelling plan rejected by MPs

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MPs have rejected plans to make food outlets label meat from animals killed in accordance with religious practices, such as halal or kosher.

Conservative Philip Davies, who proposed the Commons debate, said there was a “huge public demand” to know more about where food came from. But consumer affairs minister Jenny Willott said the government did not think regulation was the best approach.

Mr Davies’ amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill failed by 264 votes.

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British Veterinary Association warns against ritual slaughter debate being ‘hijacked by prejudice’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BVA logoCalls to label meat products with information about animal welfare at slaughter must not be hijacked by prejudice, according to the British Veterinary Association, which has been campaigning for an end to non-stun slaughter.

On the day that MPs debate an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill calling for compulsory labelling of halal and kosher food, the President of the BVA has written to the three main party leaders asking them to support its call for food labelling to state whether the animal has been stunned in line with welfare legislation or not stunned under the legal derogation.

Recent media coverage about restaurants and supermarkets using and selling meat from halal and kosher slaughter has raised awareness of the issue of welfare at slaughter, but an enormous amount of confusion remains over how consumers can make an informed choice.

In the letters to David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, BVA explains that labelling all halal and kosher products will do nothing to inform the public about the very proper concerns regarding welfare at slaughter but could fuel further confusion and potentially feed prejudice.

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Carole Malone channels Taj Hargey

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Carole Malone and Taj Hargey“Halal meat controversy is about unnecessary cruelty to animals and NOT Islamaphobia.” Well, that’s what Carole Malone claimed in her column in yesterday’s Sunday Mirror.

According to Malone, not previously known for her command of the finer points of Islamic theology, halal slaughter is not mandated by the Qur’an but is based on the Hadith – described by Malone as “teachings written 300 years after the Prophet died which are often used to justify hardline views”. Therefore, Malone asserts: “No Muslim is bound by his or her religion to eat halal meat.”

You might think this line of argument sounds familiar, and you would be right. Malone has lifted it straight from an article by the appalling Taj Hargey, published by the Daily Mail on its Right Minds blog last week.

You can understand why Islamophobes should be enthusiastic about Hargey’s article, which describes the sale of halal meat products by Subway and Pizza Express as “covert religious extremism and creeping Islamic fundamentalism making its way into Britain by the back door”. With a nod to the witch-hunt currently being conducted in Birmingham schools, Hargey concludes: “It is high time the white, liberal, Guardian-reading classes stopped behaving like apologists and woke up. There is a fundamentalist Trojan horse in our midst, and we must take corrective action.”

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