Thread by @miqdaad

NEW: Tory MP Bob Blackman was exposed sharing a platform with Katie Hopkins & David Vance

ICYMI he has a long history linked to Islamophobia inc RTing Tommy Robinson

@Conservatives claim a "zero tolerance" policy: we know what that really means (thread)
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

History of Bob Blackman MP:

1. RTed Tommy Robinson
2. Hosted anti-Muslim extremist in Parliament
3. Shared fake news from anti-Muslim site
4. Shared an anti-Muslim Facebook post
5. Was part of anti-Muslim Facebook groups
6. Shared platform with Hopkins & Vance

*No action taken*

Here, Blackman claims he didn't know he was sharing a platform with Hopkins & Vance despite being on the agenda

But
- He chose not to say anything even when he apparently did find out
- Even now he chose not to apologise

Given his history, this is all the more unacceptable

On 1, here is Blackman retweeting an anti-Muslim post by Tommy Robinson. Despite claiming to be sorry for his RT of Tommy Robinson, he did not delete his tweet for weeks if not months after (source:

https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/926880848560914432

)

thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-m…

In fact, rather than being truly apologetic and regretting his actions, in this context of his RT of Tommy Robinson, he RTed another account that seems to specialise in hurling abuse at Muslims

https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/925268907476299776

On 2, Blackman actually *defended* his hosting of the anti-Muslim extremist and bigot (& apparent friend of Tommy Robinson) in Parliament. See Ghosh's vicious views in the image below

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

Given these vile views by Tapan Ghosh, it's even more extraordinary that Blackman RTed a comment asking why there is so much fuss over Tapan Ghosh: a man who appears to have advocated genocide against Kashmiri Muslims.

This is not okay

On 3, Blackman shared a tweet by the website ShankhNaad, which has been repeatedly accused of publishing false stories designed to cause community tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

thetimes.co.uk/article/muslim…

On 4, here is when he shared a story titled “Muslim Somali sex gang say raping white British children ‘part of their culture’” from the anti-Muslim website Hardcore News USA.

thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/t…

On 5, Bob Blackman was a member of several Islamophobic Facebook groups.

e.g."Britain for the British" which has posts praising Hitler, wishing violence on Sadiq Khan, accusing him of being an "Islamofascist", "traitor" & hoping he dies

vice.com/en_uk/article/…

The position that @Conservatives act "swiftly" to complaints of Islamophobia, have a "zero tolerance" policy on Islamophobia, or even give the slightest care in the world about Islamophobia, is an untenable position given the evidence and lack of action against this one MP

And this ignores the literally 100s of examples in this submission by @MuslimCouncil to the EHRC

mcb.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

theguardian.com/politics/2020/…

Islamophobia is endemic in @Conservatives: A survey into Islamophobia amongst its party members suggested

- 2/3 of Tory members believe the Islamophobic far right conspiracy that parts of UK are under Sharia law
- Nearly 1/2 prefer not to have a Muslim PM
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…

More than half of those Conservative Party members surveyed (56%) by YouGov think the religion is "generally a threat" to the British way of life.
news.sky.com/story/tory-mem…

Here's the link to one of the above polls of Tory members

hopenothate.org.uk/2019/06/21/con…

Polling also shows anti-Muslim prejudice is more prevalent amongst @Conservatives *supporters*:

- 42% believe Tommy Robinson highlights issues ignored by media (vs. 18% from Labour)
- 49% see Islam as threat to British way of life (vs. 21% from Labour)

hopenothate.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

And 27% believe Muslim immigration to this country is part of a bigger plan to make Muslims a majority of this country’s population (vs. 8% of Labour voters)

This is a truly revolting theory so prevalent amongst the Party supporters

d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_upload…

Sorry one thing I forgot to note about Bob Blackman:

Tory MP 'Proud' He Blocked Labour Attempt At Mandela Honour huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/16/bob…