Tories walk out of Blackburn w/ Darwen Council racism debate

The unprecedented move came over a motion put forward by the council's leader and deputy to write to the Government over Islamophobia and antisemitism.

The motion, moved by Labour's Councillor Phil Riley and seconded by deputy Cllr Quesir Mahmood, called on the chief executive of the council, Denise Park, to write to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, asking them to ensure that “any examples of such rhetoric within their parties are treated with the utmost seriousness.”

It also mentioned the recent verbal attacks on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, “by senior members of the Conservative Party".

Lee Anderson was suspended after making Islamophobic comments about Mayor Khan, and while Tory ministers including Mr Sunak said the comments were 'wrong', stopped short of calling them racist. Anderson has since quit the Tory party and joined Reform UK.

The motion came two weeks after the Rochdale by-election, where Labour dropped its candidate Azhar Ali after anti-Semitic comments by him at a Labour meeting surfaced. Hyndburn Labour parliamentary candidate Graham Jones is currently suspended after he made similar comments at that meeting.

It also comes six weeks ahead of local elections, with the 4BWD group of ex-Labour and Conservative councillors, who quit their parties over their respective stances on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, aiming to run in every ward.

Cllr Denise Gee (Blackburn South and Lower Darwen, Con) stood and expressed her disgust at the “political point-scoring” on show.

She said: “When we talk about faith, belief, caring for each other, we do not use it as a political scoring point.

"I’m ashamed that you’ve brought it to the chamber to use a political scoring point.

“You are politicising the point and it’s shameful. We are a caring society.

"We are people who stand to support people in our communities, and that is what we come to this chamber to do.

"We come to care, support and represent, and we should represent everybody.

“By pointing it in a direction, you have demolished the passion that this could have brought.

“Why did you feel the need to approach it in such a manner?”

After hearing from Cllr Mahfooz Hussain (Blackburn Central, Lab), Cllr Gee labelled the said politicising of the issue an “absolute disgrace” and left the chamber.

She was then followed by the other Conservative members of the council.

Leader Cllr Riley, in response, said: “I didn’t realise this was going to be as controversial as that.

“I still think it’s the right thing to do and I’m happy to conclude the motion.”

As well as recent events nationally, the motion also followed the authority's chief executive Ms Park representing the UK at a conference in The Netherlands to outline the borough's work on community cohesion and levelling up.

The motion said: "Blackburn with Darwen Council is proud to be viewed as one of the best examples of community cohesion in the country, and welcomes the recent opportunity for officers of the council to be able to showcase examples of best practice on an international stage.

"Sadly, however, this accolade occurs at a time when examples of race hate are growing in society, and are becoming increasingly common in public discourse, and this is a cause for serious concern among the communities of the borough.

"Tell Mama, the public service that records and monitors anti-Muslim incidents, has recorded a 335 per cent increase in anti-Muslim hate cases in the last four months compared to the similar period in 2022/2023, and the recent verbal attacks on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, by senior members of the Conservative Party set an alarming precedent in the run-up to what is likely to be an intense set of elections in 2024.

"At the same time, the number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents is growing, often accompanied by physical violence, and this is leaving some members of the Jewish community afraid to walk out on the streets of their towns and cities.

"Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric of this kind have no place in the political arena or anywhere in public life in the UK and we call on the chief executive to write to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition, asking them to ensure that any examples of such rhetoric within their parties are treated with the utmost seriousness and that politicians who indulge in this kind of rhetoric are not tolerated within the mainstream political parties."

An amendment to the motion was also tabled by Cllr Mustafa Desai(Little Harwood and Whitebirk, 4BWD), saying: “The justified zero tolerance benchmark established toward antisemitism needs to be consistently applied towards Islamophobia and towards protecting all faiths.”

All 32 remaining councillors in the chamber unanimously voted to approve adding this amendment to the motion, minus the word ‘benchmark.’

Another vote was then held which unanimously voted to approve the motion.