A Liberal Democrat MP has said that he finds Maajid Nawaz’s recent actions unacceptable and an “insult to people of all religions.”
Gordon Birtwistle MP, who represents the Burnley and Padiham constituency, said the Lib Dems should condemn Nawaz’s actions, de-select him and cancel his membership.
Birtwistle was responding to a complaint about Nawaz’s tweeting of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and Prophet Isa (as) which many Muslims deemed to be offensive.
A petition calling on Nawaz to be de-selected from the Lib Dem’s prospective parliamentary list was signed by more than 22,000 people. But despite that the Lib Dems have refused to de-select Nawaz and have defended his right to free speech.
Nawaz’s Quilliam Foundation used to get millions in funding from the government which was keen to put the onus on the Muslim community to “clean up its own house” after the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks. Although that funding has now been withdrawn Nawaz still promotes his message of “Muslim reform” on mainstream TV stations and in the right-wing media.
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