: Angry Over Being Ignored, British Muslims Flex Their Political Muscle

British Muslim voters have traditionally been loyal supporters of the Labour Party, casting up to 90% of their votes for them in each election, but Tony Blair’s push for war in Iraq seems to have pushed many British Muslims out of the Labour camp. “In the past our family have gone out of their way to vote and most of them probably voted Labour,” said Pervaiz Siddique, a textile shop owner in a suburb of Birmingham. “But I think this time, because of the war, a lot of them were thinking that they need to vote against Labour or not at all.” The heavy swing in Muslim votes is credited with ousting Labour from Birmingham after 19 years in power and costing 700 seats throughout the UK. As Blair’s hoped-for “Baghdad Bounce” became a “Baghdad Backlash“, the generally anti-war Liberal Democrats were the main benefactors of Muslim votes. This formidible exercise in political power can be contrasted sharply with the actions of some British Muslims who have chosen other (less effective) means of expressing their political viewpoints. Recent suicide bombings in Israel that involved British Muslims who took the advice of leaflets distributed by a extremist mosque in Birmingham that called on British Muslims to become suicide bombers. “The number is getting close to 50,” said Hassan Butt, a former spokesperson for al-Muhajiroun (who added that “about 20” young British Muslims “were absolutely serious” about staging suicide bombings), as Muslim MP Khalid Mahmood called for immediate action against extremists inciting suicide bombings.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.