Taj Ali Profile picture
Journalist and Historian | @RSLiterature award-winning writer | Former Editor, Tribune | Bylines: @Guardian @Independent @Ajenglish @HuffPost @MetroUK
Sep 2 5 tweets 2 min read
NEWS: I’ve set up an independent anti-racist reporting and monitoring organisation. We’ll document racist attacks, support victims, pressure authorities to act, and amplify the voices of smaller, more isolated Black and Asian communities across Britain.🧵 Image Far too often, racism is either unreported or dismissed as anti-social behaviour. Our platform will gather verified reports and push to ensure they’re taken seriously by the media and public institutions. Share, report, support. ⬇️

antiracistradar.co.uk
Aug 30 5 tweets 2 min read
RACIST GRAFFITI SCRAWLED ON YORK TAKEAWAY

The word ‘Chinese’ was painted over, and ‘Go Home’ daubed on one wall. Image 'Go home' graffiti on the Chinese takeaway.

The British-Chinese owner has lived in the UK for over 20 years. Image
Aug 29 4 tweets 2 min read
The South Essex Islamic Centre in Basildon has been vandalised in the latest in a disturbing wave of racist attacks targeting mosques across Britain. Image The leader of Basildon Council Gavin Callaghan has slammed the attack as “pathetic criminal cowardice”

“Don’t dress it up. Don’t excuse it. It’s scum behaviour, and it shames our town... The cowards who did this will be caught.” Image
Aug 26 4 tweets 2 min read
Racist graffiti in Thornley, Bishop Auckland (North East England)

I spoke to a Muslim in the area last summer who was deeply worried about racist violence. His wife was having panic attacks at the time.

This is the experience of smaller Black and Asian communities in Britain. Image
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There's a real ignorance about the experience of smaller more geographically isolated Black and Asian communities. Racism is on the rise and they are often on the receiving end of it. We cannot be complacent. Image
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Jul 9 5 tweets 1 min read
NEW: @unitetheunion General Secretary Sharon Graham has accused Deputy PM Angela Rayner of being complicit in the fire and rehire of Birmingham bin workers.

Bin workers are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000. They have been told to accept lower terms or be made redundant. “Let's be very clear, what Birmingham city council has proposed is fire and rehire in a Labour council under a Labour government. Council leader John Cotton has never been in negotiations and Angela Rayner, who is responsible for the government commissioners, is now complicit...
Jun 26 28 tweets 5 min read
Why a grooming gangs inquiry matters.

This isn’t about the far-right. It’s about working-class girls (inc. South Asian girls) subjected to sickening abuse and forced to relive their trauma. Local authorities, social services and the police have serious questions to answer. 🧵 In 2002, mothers in Keighley told Labour MP Ann Cryer their 12- and 13-year-old daughters were being abused by groups of older Pakistani men. They had a list of 35 names and addresses. They went to police and social services. Nothing was done.

hyphenonline.com/2025/06/26/nat…
Feb 12 15 tweets 5 min read
Today marks the 60th anniversary of Malcolm X's visit to Smethwick.

The West Midlands town had experienced the most racist election campaign in British history. Just four months prior, a Tory MP had won on the slogan, 'If you want a n*gger for your neighbour, vote Labour.' 🧵 Image “I was in Birmingham, Alabama, the other day. This will give me a chance to see if Birmingham, England, is any different,” said Malcolm X to the press on 12 February 1965.

hyphenonline.com/2023/06/12/mal…
Nov 18, 2024 7 tweets 3 min read
Remembering the formidable anti-racist campaigner Anwar Ditta.

A working-class Kashmiri woman, she was born in Birmingham and lived in Rochdale, sharing platforms with the likes of Tony Benn and Arthur Scargill and leading numerous anti-deportation campaigns. 🧵 Image In 1979, Anwar was told that her three Pakistan-born children would not be allowed to join her in the UK due to new stricter immigration laws; the Home Office said they didn’t believe Anwar’s children were hers. Image
Sep 11, 2024 12 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: The British Trades Union Congress, representing 48 affiliated unions with a total of about 5.5 million members have unanimously passed a motion demanding an end to all arms trading with
Israel over the genocide in Gaza. #TUC2024 The motion also accepted the call of Palestinian unions, made in October and reaffirmed in May, for international trade unions to end all complicity with Israel’s violations of international law and to make their unions apartheid free zones.
Sep 2, 2024 7 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: Five Independent MPs have come together to form the ‘Independent Alliance’ Parliamentary group, making them the joint fifth biggest grouping in the House of Commons.

@jeremycorbyn
@ShockatAdam
@iqbalmohamedMP
@AdnanHussainMP
@AyoubKhanMP As a Parliamentary grouping of five they are more likely to be allocated question and speaking slots by the Speaker on a regular basis, including being added to the rota reserved for ‘smaller parties’ to ask questions at PMQs.
Aug 29, 2024 9 tweets 4 min read
On the 40th anniversary of the miners' strike, it is worth exploring the solidarity efforts of British South Asians.

There were street collections from Southall to Birmingham. The Asian Youth Movements and Indian Workers Associations also sent minibuses to the picket lines. 🧵 Image Just as Britain’s mining communities were built around industry, South Asian communities were built around the factories, mills and foundries that sought their labour after WW2. They found their collective political identity as a section of the working class in Britain. Image
Aug 7, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
🚨IMPORTANT

Experienced anti-racist organiser has said far-right are spreading misinformation in Luton, Birmingham and other areas with big Muslim communities to get us to turn out and cause trouble for police. This is a trusted source. If they attack, we are ready to defend. Work with the police. Listen to them. Keep your kids in check. We are monitoring and are on standby. We need vigilance and discipline.
Aug 7, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
The BNP used to spread rumours about turning up to areas with big Muslim communities. In the end, we'd mobilise in big numbers and clash with the police. Social media misinformation has significantly amplified that risk. Verify things before spreading them. The police will have the best intelligence. We have monitoring groups in place. If there's no obvious far-right and we have strength in numbers, we need to keep our kids in check and not descend to their level. This is what they want.
Jul 26, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
EXCLUSIVE: Ten trade union general secretaries have written to Keir Starmer demanding the scrapping of the two-child limit and the 'immediate reinstatement' of 7 Labour MPs suspended for voting against one of the biggest drivers of child poverty.

tribunemag.co.uk/2024/07/union-… The letter, headed up by @TUCGinfo chair and General Secretary of @ucu @DrJoGrady, has been signed by leading figures, including the President of the Trades Union Congress, representing 48 affiliated trade unions with a total 5.5 million members.

tribunemag.co.uk/2024/07/union-…
Jul 5, 2024 9 tweets 2 min read
There have been 4 pro-Gaza Independent candidates elected so far. The same number as Reform MPs. That's big and totally unexpected. It deserves coverage and analysis. Shockat Adam MP for Leicester South

Iqbal Mohammed MP for Dewsbury and Batley

Adnan Hussain MP for Blackburn

Jeremy Corbyn MP for Islington North

All 4 defeated Labour tonight as Independent Candidates.
Jun 27, 2024 8 tweets 3 min read
EXCLUSIVE: An Asian BrewDog worker was sacked after raising concerns about the presence of the EDL on the day a far-right rally descended into violence.

tribunemag.co.uk/2024/06/asian-… In April, a far-right rally led by Tommy Robinson descended into violence with multiple arrests made.

As chaos raged in central London, Myriam*, an Asian woman, turned up to her job at BrewDog in Waterloo, completely unaware of the fracas taking place about a mile away.
Jun 19, 2024 7 tweets 1 min read
BREAKING: The government’s decision to scrap key recommendations from the independent review into the Windrush scandal was unlawful, the High Court has ruled today. The court found Suella Braverman was “not justified” in breaking promises to create a migrants’ commissioner and boost the powers of the chief inspector for borders and immigration.
Jun 3, 2024 5 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: 7 Labour councillors in Slough have resigned, accusing the Labour party of institutional racism.

In their resignation letter, they cite the deselection of Faiza Shaheen and the treatment of Diane Abbott as well as censorship over Gaza. 'We must stay true to our values and conscience, even if the party we once believed in has abandoned them.'

1) Councillor Zafar Ajaib

2) Cllr Sabia Akram

3) Cllr Haqeeq Dar

4) Cllr Mohammed Nazir

5) Cllr Naveeda Waseem

6) Cllr Waqas Sabah

7) Cllr Jamila Sabah
May 25, 2024 5 tweets 1 min read
NEW: @unitetheunion furious over new revisions to Labour's workers' rights policies.

@UniteSharon: 'The again revised New Deal for Working People has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The number of caveats and get outs means it is in danger of becoming a bad bosses’ charter.' 'Working people expect Labour to be their voice. They need to know that Labour will not backdown to corporate profiteers determined to maintain the status quo of colossal profits at the expense of everyone else. The country desperately needs a Labour government, but...
May 18, 2024 13 tweets 4 min read
This house in a leafy North London suburb was home to Indian revolutionaries from 1905-1910.

They published an anti-colonialist newspaper, smuggled weapons into India and brushed shoulders with Irish Republicans, suffragettes, Egyptian nationalists and communists.🧵 Image India House was founded in 1905 by the lawyer Shyamji Krishnavarma. It served as a student residence but was also home to many organisations such as the Indian Home Rule League. Scholarships were offered to Indian students on the basis they would refuse to work for the British.
May 8, 2024 7 tweets 2 min read
🚨NEW: @unitetheunion say Labour's draft New Deal for Workers is “unrecognisable”, accusing the party of turning it into a charter for bad bosses.

Comes after the union, Labour's largest financial backer, threatened to withhold funds over the watering down of key pledges. @UniteSharon: “It looks like all the warnings Unite made earlier about the dangers of Labour rowing back on its pledges for the New Deal for Workers have been proved right. This new Labour document on the New Deal, issued to the unions on Monday, is a row back on a row back...