MUSLIM MP BLASTS LONDON MAYOR POLL

On Islam

London, 1 Dzulqa’dah 1436/15 August 2015 (MINA) – Running for London’s highest seat, Muslim Labour MP, Sadiq Khan, has criticized the broadcaster LBC for misreporting a poll and claiming half of Londoners wouldn’t back a Muslim mayor.

“People are perhaps inevitably anxious about faiths they don’t know and that is why Sadiq has spent so much of his adult life reaching out across communities to increase understanding,” Marcus Roberts, Khan’s campaign manager, wrote in a letter to LBC cited by The Guardian.

“I hope you can reassure me – and Londoners – that your coverage of these issues does not run the risk of undermining the strength of our city with questions that fuel prejudice and risk setting Londoners against each other,” Roberts added. On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The letter was referring to the LBC’s poll by YouGov which found that more than half of Londoners would be comfortable with a Muslim mayor.

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On the other hand, the poll revealed that one in three Londoners would feel “uncomfortable” with this prospect.

The views of the surveyed 1,153 adults pose as a threat to the mayoral hopes of two prominent London Muslim politicians Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Conservative MEP Syed Kamall.

“There’s a very clear age gap here. If you ask people in their 20s, around 2/3rds are comfortable and only around 20% less comfortable,” Peter Kellner from YouGov explained to LBC.

“If you look at the over 60s, then more of them are uncomfortable than comfortable.

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“So there is the problem for a Muslim candidate amongst older voters, but much less of a problem for younger voters.”

On its website, LBC wrongly said the poll showed half of Londoners said they would be uncomfortable with a Muslim mayor.

The report was blasted by the Labour politician who said that electing a Muslim mayor would send an “awesome message to the rest of the world about the tolerance and respect Londoners have for people from different religions.”

British Muslims are estimated at nearly 2.7 million.

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Last May, a record of 13 Muslim lawmakers have been elected in one of the most unpredictable and extraordinary general elections in Britain, doubling the number from 8 in 2010.

Born in 1970, Khan was appointed in 2007 as a government assistant responsible for parliamentary affairs.

Entering the parliament in 2005, khan became the first Muslim in cabinet as Minister of State for Transport in 2009.

In the previous general election, Khan was re-elected as an MP and became Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. (T/P007/R03)

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Mi’raj Islamc News Agency (MINA)

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