Sarah Champion distances herself from Sun article she wrote about British Pakistani men raping white girls

 

The Labour shadow minister Sarah Champion has distanced herself from a column in the Sun in which she wrote: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.”

The shadow women and equalities minister, who is MP for Rotherham, said her piece had been altered and should “not have gone out in my name”. The newspaper said the MP’s team had fully approved the article.

The piece appeared last Friday under the headline: “British Pakistani men ARE raping and exploiting white girls … and it’s time we faced up to it.”

In her opening paragraphs, Champion wrote: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls. There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is?”

Champion’s complaint against the newspaper comes a day after 100 MPs wrote to it to condemn a controversial article by one of its journalists that had quoted her on Muslim grooming gangs.

She was endorsed in the tabloid by the newspaper’s senior writer Trevor Kavanagh who said MPs had to tackle what he deemed “the Muslim Problem” and that Champion was one of the few politicians prepared to speak out.

The Kavanagh column has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the Muslim Council of Britain and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

More than 100 cross-party politicians signed an open letter to the newspaper condemning the column for using “Nazi-like language” regarding the Muslim community in Britain, coordinated by the Labour MP Naz Shah.

As the row intensified, Champion distanced herself from the article published under her name. She said the opening paragraphs had been edited by the tabloid and “stripped of nuance”.

But a spokesperson for the Sun said: “Sarah Champion’s column, as it appeared on Friday, was approved by her team and her adviser twice contacted us thereafter to say she was ‘thrilled’ with the piece and it ‘looked great’.

“Indeed, her only objection after the article appeared was her belief that her picture byline looked unflattering. Her office submitted five new pictures for further use.”

The MP said her original aim had been to try to “open the debate about a very specific form of child abuse”.

“However, the Sun decided to make the headline and opening sentences highly inflammatory and they could be taken to vilify an entire community on the basis of race, religion or country of origin,” she said.

Champion said she did not write the headline or opening sentences, which she said were “stripped of any nuance about the complex issue of grooming gangs, which have exploited thousands in my constituency”.

“The article should not have gone out in my name and I apologise that it did,” she said.

Of the Kavanagh piece, Champion said she was horrified that a “repulsive and extreme Islamophobic” column had quoted her positively. “I am ashamed that he made positive reference to my own piece. We must always stand up against racism and prejudice, whatever form it takes,” she said.

Labour members on Twitter had called on the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to sack Champion from the front bench. The West Lancashire Labour councillor Paul Cotterill called the piece “a sinister piece of propaganda”.

Corbyn said he backed Shah’s public letter condemning Kavanagh’s column and said the sexual abuse cases involving Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile, as well as the Rotherham grooming scandal, showed how serious the problem of sexual abuse was and the different ways it could arise.

In apparent criticism of Champion, who also signed the open letter, the Labour leader said: “Attempts to brand communities or ethnic or religious groups, wittingly or unwittingly, will only make that more difficult.

“In recent days, the Sun has published statements that incite Islamophobia and stigmatise entire communities. That is wrong, dangerous and must be condemned, as Naz Shah’s public letter does in the clearest possible terms. The interests of victims of sexual abuse and the rigorous investigation into the underlying causes of that abuse are damaged by this kind of bigotry and prejudice.”

The column by Sarah Champion in the Sun. Photograph: The Sun

 

Don’t let politics obscure the horrors of grooming gangs in UK

 

Last week, Sarah Champion MP for Rotherham wrote a series of tweets in response to both Tory leadership hopefuls discussing how they would seek to deal with Britain’s “grooming gangs” scandal. Rishi Sunak has vowed to launch a “major crackdown” and blamed “political correctness” for the failure to tackle this tragedy. At a live GB News audience in Leigh, a member of the audience asked Liz Truss what her plans are to confront the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to which she replied: “It is absolutely repulsive … I want the people held to account. The council officers, the councillors and the police who didn’t do anything about it.”

Some welcome promises you might think — especially considering in Champion’s constituency alone more than 1,400 children are estimated to have been sexually exploited across a 16-year time span. Instead, Champion chose to slam the Conservative contributions as “disgusting and immoral”. She wrote: “Truss and Sunak have now decided to use grooming gangs as a political wedge in their increasing desperate leadership bids. I’ve tried to keep quiet — but it feels complicit not to say something.”  

During the course of the evening she continued, asking: “Why focus on grooming gangs rather than preventing all forms of child abuse? I can only assume [Truss and Sunak] are using it for political gain, playing to a perceived audience … ” She also offered some words of wisdom: “Truss and Sunak fail to grasp that to prevent child abuse we don’t need more laws and stronger sentences, we need more resources for the police, social services, NHS and education … ” and “Truss has implemented over £1billion cuts in aid support to women and girls around the world.”

This alarming commitment to obfuscation should not come as a surprise. It is the thread which binds a dizzying amount of towns and cities. But Champion has been viewed, understandably, as a shining light in a landscape filled with spineless civil servants and politicians. In August 2017 she wrote an article for The Sun which began: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting White girls. There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is?” 

Five days later she issued an apology citing her “extremely poor choice of words” and resigned as shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, saying it “would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career”. During that time, Naz Shah MP liked and retweeted a Twitter post telling sex abuse victims of the Rotherham scandal to “shut their mouths for the good of diversity” but later deleted her retweet and unliked the post calling it a “genuine accident”. Shah also attacked Champion’s article accusing her of making “blanket, racialized, loaded statements” and branded her colleague “irresponsible”. 

It is disturbing that a decade after Andrew Norfolk’s groundbreaking story hit the headlines, politicians are still actively attempting to avoid the biggest scandal in early 21st century Britain. Why must we focus on grooming scandals and not include every single act of child abuse, Champion asks. Well, should we have shunned the Boston Globe’s expose into the Catholic Church because it didn’t include Pentecostals? Of course not. Seeking justice for the many thousands of survivors who have been involved in this horrific ordeal doesn’t mean a lack of interest elsewhere. We simply demand answers and long overdue accountability. The timidity has to end. 

Champion and her Labour colleagues should put political differences to one side and accept that both Truss and Sunak are raising valid points. The only person guilty of driving a “political wedge” is, in fact, people like her. It is deeply offensive and infantile to distrust their concerns based on the fact that they are Tories. Unless of course, this is a desperate attempt to get back into lefty good books — but in that case Champion may have to go a little further to sufficiently please them. Perhaps calling it a “far-right conspiracy”?

It is worth remembering the facts of the Rotherham case (one among many, including those of Oldham, Telford, Oxford et cetera). The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigated 265 different allegations made by 51 complainants. Eventually, 47 officers were investigated. The IOPC concluded that eight had a case to answer for misconduct and six had a case to answer for gross misconduct. The most severe sanction, ultimately, was a written warning. 

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Sete feridos em desordem com vários estrangeiros na Rua do Benformoso

 

Pelo menos três das sete vítimas foram conduzidas ao hospital e todos "aparentam estar em forma regular" em território nacional. A PSP referiu que não foi possível apurar os motivos da desordem. Um vídeo amador mostra o início dos desacatos entre várias pessoas.
"Esta tarde, por volta das 14:30, quatro cidadãos estrangeiros deslocaram-se à 4.ª esquadra na Rua da Palma, onde pediram apoio. Pediram ajuda à polícia o que revela a confiança que esta comunidade tem na PSP e pediram ajuda porque apresentavam sinais de terem sido agredidos. Prontamente foram acionados para o local e foram detetadas mais três pessoas ainda aqui e com sinais de terem sido agredidas. Duas das quais com uma faca, uma arma branca", explicou o Sub-intendente da PSP Iuri Rodrigues.

 

Pelo menos três das sete vítimas foram assistidas no local e conduzidas ao Hospital de São José. Todos "aparentam estar em forma regular" em território nacional. "O que podemos dizer é que houve alguma violência: há registo de dentes partidos, agressões com arma branca numa perna e barriga e cortes na cabeça", acrescenta. Em conferencia de imprensa, o Sub-intendente Iuri Rodrigues refere a barreira linguística como um dos obstáculos que impede apurar os motivos da desordem.
De acordo com fonte policial, as duas vítimas sofreram ferimentos provocados com arma branca. "Uma vítima foi esfaqueada num membro inferior e outra na zona lombar. Ambos receberam assistência no local, sendo de seguida transportados para o Hospital de São José", indicou a mesma fonte da PSP.
A polícia vai comunicar a ocorrência ao Ministério Público e reforçou o policiamento "no local da ocorrência e nas imediações".

 

Bomb shelters to be built at ALL new buildings in Norway for ‘worst-case scenario’ amid Putin’s threats against Nato

 

NORWAY is set to build thousands of bomb shelters as they prepare for the "worst-case scenario" amid fears of a Russian war with Nato.

The Norwegian government say the creation of safety bunkers in all new large-scale buildings is being done to counter the huge amount of "uncertainty" plaguing Europe around Vladimir Putin's next move.

It has been almost three years since Vlad ordered his troops to illegally invade Ukraine and plunge the continent into chaos.

Ever since the strongly condemned power play from the ageing despot, Putin has continued to launch scathing attacks on all those who defend Ukraine.

This has dragged Nato into the conflict amid several chilling threats of an escalation of war if they continue to arm and fund Russia's enemies.

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Now Norway, which has a border with Ukraine, fears Vlad's reign of tyranny will not stop after he claims his first country.

 

Trevor Phillips: "Seguidores do islamismo têm valores muito diferentes do resto da sociedade e muitos querem levar vidas separadas"

O ex-presidente da Comissão de Igualdades e Direitos Humanos da Grã-Bretanha (EHRC), Trevor Phillips, admitiu que "errou em quase tudo" em relação à imigração num anterior relatório, alegando que os muçulmanos estão a criar "nações dentro de nações" no Ocidente.

Phillips diz que os seguidores do islamismo têm valores muito diferentes do resto da sociedade e muitos querem levar vidas separadas. O ex-presidente da Comissão de Fiscalização da Igualdade do Reino Unido também defende o controle de populações de minorias étnicas em bairros de habitação social, para impedir que se tornem em guetos. Trevor Phillips diz que as escolas podem ter que considerar um limite de 50 por cento para alunos muçulmanos ou de outras minorias para encorajar a integração social. E diz que descobertas perturbadoras de pesquisas recentes apontam para um abismo crescente entre as atitudes de muitos muçulmanos britânicos e seus compatriotas.

(…) "Não é como se não pudéssemos ter previsto isso. Mas falhámos repetidamente em detectar os sinais de alerta", escreve Trevor Phillips no The Times, em resposta a novos dados recolhidos. "Vinte anos atrás (…) publiquei o relatório intitulado "Islamofobia: Um Desafio para Todos Nós". Na altura pensávamos que o risco real da chegada de novas comunidades era a discriminação contra os muçulmanos.
"Nossa pesquisa de 1996 sobre incidentes recentes mostrou que havia muito disso por aí. Mas erramos em quase todo o resto." Em um artigo para o Daily Mail, Phillips alerta sobre uma "luta de vida ou morte pela alma do islamismo britânico". "A Grã-Bretanha é, de muitas maneiras, um lugar melhor do que nunca — mais próspera, mais diversa, mais liberal.

Trevor Phillips

Esta conclusão preocupante provém do inquérito mais abrangente alguma vez realizado junto dos muçulmanos britânicos, encomendado pelo Channel 4. "Depois de ter sido pedido para analisar os seus resultados, acredito que contém uma mensagem sombria para todos nós. "Há uma luta de vida ou de morte pela alma do Islão britânico — e esta não é uma batalha que o resto de nós se possa dar ao luxo de ficar de fora. Precisamos de tomar partido." - afirmou Trevor Phillips.

"Mas, para alguns dos nossos concidadãos, estamos a ir na direcção totalmente errada. Tanto assim é que alguns deles prefeririam viver sob um sistema totalmente diferente. "De facto, uma minoria significativa dos três milhões de muçulmanos da Grã-Bretanha considera-nos uma nação de moral tão baixa que preferem viver mais separados dos seus compatriotas não muçulmanos, de preferência ao abrigo da lei da sharia.

"Esta conclusão preocupante provém do inquérito mais abrangente alguma vez realizado junto dos muçulmanos britânicos, encomendado pelo Channel 4. "Depois de ter sido pedido para analisar os seus resultados, acredito que contém uma mensagem sombria para todos nós. "Há uma luta de vida ou de morte pela alma do Islão britânico — e esta não é uma batalha que o resto de nós se possa dar ao luxo de ficar de fora. Precisamos de tomar partido."

Trevor Phillips: schools may have to consider a 50 per cent limit on Muslim, or other minority pupils, to encourage social integration

 

The former head of Britain's Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Trevor Phillips, has admitted he "got almost everything wrong" regarding immigration in a new report, claiming Muslims are creating "nations within nations" in the West.

Phillips says followers of Islam hold very different values from the rest of society and many want to lead separate lives. The former head of the U.K.'s equalities watchdog also advocates the monitoring of ethnic minority populations on housing estates to stop them becoming "ghetto villages."

He says schools may have to consider a 50 per cent limit on Muslim, or other minority pupils, to encourage social integration. And he says disturbing survey findings point to a growing chasm between the attitudes of many British Muslims and their compatriots.

Phillips' intervention comes after he was asked to analyse the findings of a major survey on Muslim attitudes in the U.K., which will form the basis of Channel 4's documentary, What British Muslims Really Think, which is due to air on Wednesday night.

An ICM poll released to the Times, in Britain, ahead of the broadcast reveals:

• One in five Muslims in Britain never enter a non-Muslim house

• 39 per cent of Muslims, male and female, say a woman should always obey her husband

• 31 per cent of British Muslims support the right of a man to have more than one wife

• 52 per cent of Muslims did not believe that homosexuality should be legal

• 23 per cent of Muslims support the introduction of Sharia law rather than the laws laid down by parliament

The documentary will portray the U.K.'s Muslims as a "nation within a nation" that has its own geography and values. Phillips commissioned a report into Britain and Islamophobia in 1997 which, according to both Phillips himself and academics across the country, popularised the phrase which has now become synonymous with any criticism of Islam or Muslims.

"It's not as though we couldn't have seen this coming. But we've repeatedly failed to spot the warning signs," he now writes in The Times , in response to new data collected. "Twenty years ago… I published the report titled Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, we thought that the real risk of the arrival of new communities was discrimination against Muslims.

"Our 1996 survey of recent incidents showed that there was plenty of it around. But we got almost everything else wrong." In an article for the Daily Mail, Phillips warns of a "life-and-death struggle for the soul of British Islam." "Britain is in many ways a better place than it's ever been—more prosperous, more diverse, more liberal.

"But for some of our fellow citizens, we're heading in entirely the wrong direction. So much so that some of them would rather live under a wholly different system. "Indeed, a significant minority of Britain's three million Muslims consider us a nation of such low morals that they would rather live more separately from their non-Muslim countrymen, preferably under sharia law.

"This sobering conclusion comes from the most comprehensive survey of British Muslims ever conducted, commissioned by Channel 4. "Having been asked to examine its results, I believe it holds a grim message for all of us. "There is a life-and-death struggle for the soul of British Islam—and this is not a battle that the rest of us can afford to sit out. We need to take sides."

Irão enforca homossexuais

 

Iran executes 2 gay men over sodomy charges, rights group says

Under Iranian law, sodomy, rape, adultery, armed robbery and murder are among crimes that can lead to the death penalty. wo LGBT activists have been sentenced to death in Iran, rights groups say.

A court in Urmia found Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Choubdar, 24, guilty of "corruption on Earth".The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that they were accused of promoting homosexuality, promoting Christianity and communicating with media opposed to the Islamic Republic.

Iran's judiciary later confirmed the sentences, but said they were connected to human trafficking and not activism. Contrary to the news published in cyberspace and the rumours that have been spread, these two individuals have been accused of deceiving women and young girls and trafficking them to one of the countries of the region," the judiciary's news outlet Mizan reported.

Norway-registered Hengaw said Seddiqi Hamedani, also known as Sareh, was from the predominantly Kurdish town of Naqadeh in West Azerbaijan province, which borders both Turkey and Iraq.Amnesty International previously described her as a "gender non-conforming human rights defender" who it said had been detained "solely in connection with her real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity as well as her social media posts and statements in defence of [LGBT] rights".

Islão, uma religião de paz

 

52% por cento dos muçulmanos britânicos acham que a homossexualidade devia ser ilegal, no Reino Unido.