Here is some news from the East London Advertiser:
POLITICIANS from the major parties are boycotting a seminar about anti-Muslim hatred staged by the controversial Islamic Forum of Europe.
The IFE had invited the main candidates from Poplar and Limehouse to speak at the seminar entitled confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred in Contemporary Britain in Whitechapel tonight .
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The current Poplar and Limehouse MP Labour’s Jim Fitzpatrick said: “I’ve told the IFE I’m not going to attend. I don’t want to give them any credibility whatsoever.”The Conservative candidate Tim Archer who is a serving Tower Hamlets councillor has also ruled out attending.
He said: “I don’t wish to be on a platform that is questionable.”
The Lib Dem’s Jonathan Fryer had a long-standing engagement and is unable to attend.
He said: “I won’t be there. Not because I am boycotting it but because I have a long-standing engagement. I will be sending a written response. I believe it’s important to engage with people.”
Bethnal Green and Bow Respect MP George Galloway will be speaking at the event. Also listed to speak are Dr Robert Lambert, the former boss of Scotland Yard’s Muslim Contact Unit, the ex president of the IFE Muhammad Habibur Rahman and Oliver McTernan who was involved in post conflict talks between NATO and the former Yugoslav government.
