In the wake of this weekend’s riots in Birmingham, the first “community leader” out of the trap with calming words was… Salma Yaqoob: vice-chair of RESPECT, Muslim Brotherhood activist, and professional bandwaggon jumper.
She is also the spokeswoman for Birmingham Central Mosque: an institution chaired by Dr “Dancing Cows” Naseem, the conspiracy theorist and advocate of capital punishment for homosexuality, who is the largest single funder of RESPECT, providing more than 50% of the funds the party reported to the Electoral Commission.
So, with those credentials, it is only to be expected that Seumas Milne has given her a Comment piece in today’s Guardian.
Here, for the lazy, is a summary of Salma Yaqoob’s article:
1. “There is a vacuum in local Asian leadership”
2. “If public funding grants in north-west Birmingham are examined, African-Caribbean projects have received the largest proportion. Millions have been invested in helping black enterprise and training projects. The Sikh community received one substantive European grant, and the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have received the least.”
3. “To find a way out of this crisis, representatives from all the communities must come together and demand the resources that the area needs”
4. “The political system has encouraged competition between different disadvantaged communities for what amounts to crumbs. This has been compounded by the role of the Liberal Democrat-Tory coalition that runs Birmingham city council and has increased pressure to divert resources from inner-city areas to more affluent suburbs.”
5. Vote RESPECT!!!!!!!