PMQ: Theresa May slams Jeremy Corbyn over Labour racism row
A hard-left Labour MP has torn into her own party, accusing Labour of causing her extreme distress and damaging her health amid an ongoing process regarding her ex-husband.
Ms Begum, a staunch supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, posted a lengthy statement on X/Twitter today, blasting her own party for missing the deadline for when she expected to hear the process’s final outcome.
She described the ongoing investigation as “very difficult” and said the process by her party had been “extremely distressing and damaging to my health in and of itself”, due to the extensive personal information required of her.
She continued that the process has left her feeling ‘gaslit’ and raised “serious concerns” about the Labour Party’s complaints procedure.
Ms Begum went through a trial in 2021, eventually being acquitted of housing fraud after giving evidence that her ex-husband - a then-Labour councillor - had been “controlling and coercive”.
READ MORE: Apsana Begum shows Labour's towering hypocrisy - Carole Malone
Ms Begum is the first MP to wear a head scarf and has blasted the Islamophobia directed towards her (Image: Getty)
The following year the Poplar and Limehouse MP was signed off sick after a “campaign of misogynistic abuse”. Despite being signed off sick, a reselection ballot in her constituency was triggered regardless, which she described as “unjust, undemocratic and unacceptable” in her statement this morning.
Ms Begum added that she has had to cope with the re-election ballot - and the ongoing Labour process - alongside “the heightened Islamophobic abuse, the death threats and risk to my safety”.
She also criticised her party for the unresolved issues regarding the treatment of Black and Asian people within the Labour Party, alluding to the Forde Report.
The report, commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer, accused the party of enabling a “hierarchy” of racism.
He told Al Jazeera: “Anti-black racism and Islamophobia is not taken as seriously as antisemitism within the Labour party, that’s the perception that has come through”.
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Ms Begum's warning exposes the threat to Labour from independent left-wing candidates (Image: Getty)
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Ms Begum concluded with an ominous warning that: “The way in which I continue to be treated as a survivor of domestic abuse and the UK’s first and only hijab-wearing MP cannot continue”.
Responding to the statement, the Evening Standard reported that there is now growing concern in Labour about the rise of independent left-wing candidates, especially in areas like Ms Begum’s constituency.
Rumours about Jeremy Corbyn launching a party of his own to compete with Labour continue to swirl.
Explaining Ms Begum’s furious statement directed at her own party’s leadership, one Labour source familiar with the East London political turmoil explained the MP is attempting to shame Sir Keir - and others - at the top of the party into coming to a decision.
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They also flagged that Ms Begum has faced investigations alongside Kate Osamor and Diane Abbott, two BAME Labour MPs who have had the whip suspended over comments.
Labour is thought to be leaving said investigations hanging until the election is called, at which point the MPs will be dropped in favour of another candidate selected by Sir Keir Starmer.
The source added the Labour whips are determined to see the hard-left of the party off now, in case of a small majority after the election, in which case the party would be in hock to the demands of the extreme Socialist Campaign Group of MPs.
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