To ask if it's a good thing that London has a Muslim mayor

[DoesFlossfloss]

Because my London based in-laws are not happy and I've not been following the campaign as I'm not in London so don't really care. However, we're seeing PILs this weekend and it will be up for discussion.

[BertrandRussell]

"There is no conversation to be had at all because as soon as anyone mentions sharia they are called Racist' biggots."

Really? Lots of other people seem to be managing it without that happening at all!

[Floisme]

I love it that this thread has gone on for 24 pages yet there are still people popping up to say the conversation has been closed down!

As an ex catholic, any kind of faith based court makes me uneasy, even if it is subject to UK law. The key words are 'consenting adults'.

[BreakingDad77]

This is what I thought re:religious contracts they are just agreements you could make a contract like any normal contract, it would just be written such to follow the guidelines of your religion.

There would nothing stopping you later to challenge it if you were bullied/coerced (but thats a different beast) or it clashes with english law, EUCHR etc.

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

There would nothing stopping you later to challenge (a religious contract) if you were bullied/coerced (but thats a different beast) or it clashes with english law, EUCHR etc

That's perfectly true, but I believe perception and cultural issues come into this too. Where women in particular are sometimes discouraged from accessing their full rights, they may not even know if an agreement breaks national law, which is surely another reason it's so important to maintain one justice system for all - and that applies no matter what religion's involved

As I've said so often, it's not even necessarily about the actual justice meted out by such courts; for me, it's about the message their very existence sends

[GarlicShake]

Are you saying there should be no mediation services, then, Puzzled? Or are you singling out religion-based mediation?

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

Garlic I believe that mediation can be of great value, but yes - I'd prefer that it was completely non-religious for all

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

Just saw on the news - Mayor of Paris and Mayor of London. I see that Sadiq is more circumspect than the Mayor of Pairs. She called Donald Trump stupid.

[Chippednailvarnishing]

Followed by an OMG

[EnthusiasmDisturbed]

I saw that too she doesn't hold back

I think it's good we have a son of a bus driver Muslim mayor it shows as a whole we are a tolerant country and do not always judge people on their cultural background

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

She sounded so outraged! I don't know anything about her but I liked her then.

[Chippednailvarnishing]

If the Mayor of Paris can see the stupidity of Trump's policy, after everything that happened in poor Paris, there's hope yet.

[Maybebecause]

Bertrand - yes yes yes to this - "I wish people would stop calling him bumbling Boris. He is ruthlessly political ambitious with a mind like a steel trap. We underestimate him at our peril."
You ("one"- not Bertrand ) might not like the man but he is not stupid.
Nor is Sadiq Khan , nor frankly is David Cameron nor etc etc etc. It might make you happy to sit and think someone you are opposed to is a bit dim, but it don't make it so.

And on a lighter note - they will always be Boris Bikes. They were meant to be Barclays' bikes - never were. They are now (now they are red) meant to be Santander Cycles - aren't they? - nah - they are still Boris bikes - I hope with all that's in me Sadiq does a good job for London but they will never be Sadiq cycles - it's just a think that has stuck. (Am I right?)

[GREGNOIR]

I don't understand how people can claim his religion is irrelevant. His religion does matter. He's part of a religion widely disgraced and abused by the media, and he's just become the mayor! It's a fantastic step forward for this country to show that religious prejudice, is (slowly) being beaten.
Whether his religion is relevant to him being a good mayor however is yet to be seen. He could become the voice British Muslims need to speak up and speak out, and bridge the social misunderstandings between Muslims and non-Muslims.
My only gripe with his whole campaign was using the fact that he's a Muslim and, he's against terrorism as a selling point. It kind of goes with out saying that you're against terrorism... Unless you're a terrorist of course... It just felt like a cheap sell in an otherwise one sided and convincing campaign.

[howabout]

I agree religion is not irrelevant in the current context. Glasgow is my home city and it is also home to the first UK constituency to elect a Muslim MP in Mohammad Sarwar. Since his resignation from UK politics in 2013 he has been actively involved in Pakistan's politics with the parties promoting the secularisation of the Pakistan political system (as is Imran Khan who is ZG's ex BIL). He also has a history of promoting UK interests in Pakistan. His son, Anas Sarwar, was a UK Labour MP and is now an MSP. He was interviewed at the weekend about the state of the Labour party in Scotland. All the talk was of post referendum politics, autonomy of Scottish Labour, positioning in relation to the SNP and Corbyn. He has tough opposition as he will inevitably be compared with Humza Yousaf who was Scotland's youngest MSP and is the first Muslim member of the Scottish government. In his role as Minister for Europe and International Development he has been very high profile in helping to address the Syrian refugee situation and was instrumental in implementing the UK government's policy of bringing refugees direct from the Syrian camps. The first Scottish Syrian refugees are now doing great and are starting to become a part of my local community.

AS and HY went to the same Glasgow private school as most of the Glasgow South Side chattering classes of "Scottish" ethnicity. The son of a bus driver who grew up in a council flat has a much more impressive back story.

Glasgow has "People"'s bikes as a legacy of the "People Make Glasgow" Commonwealth Games. I think the necessity for dedicated cycle roads is lower because the arterial Clyde waterfront is already segregated from the road network and there are great big public parks with cycle paths running parallel to a lot of the other routes into the Centre. More importantly it tips down rain and is cold and damp most of the time.

[Baklava101]

He could become the voice British Muslims need to speak up and speak out, and bridge the social misunderstandings between Muslims and non-Muslims.

I am sure that Mr Khan is a very nice fellow and because he has intimate knowledge of the cultures of both the Briton and the Muslim he could make a very good mayor. But I am afraid you are all misguided if you think Khan will be allowed to be evenhanded. It is Khan's duty to give priority to Muslim interests wherever he finds them, he cannot avoid this easily. It is the strongest influence because it comes from Sunni business men in his constituency and the mosque.

[SheHasAWildHeart]

As a British Muslim I look forward to Khan proving all the racists/bigots/islamaphobes wrong.

[CallaLilli]

It is Khan's duty to give priority to Muslim interests wherever he finds them, he cannot avoid this easily

And you know this how?

[StealthPolarBear]

Well baklava he's not come out of nowhere. Is there evidence of him doing this so far.?

[GarlicShake]

you are all misguided if you think Khan will be allowed to be evenhanded

Depends on how you see evenhanded, doesn't it. Whenever a woman in power promotes actions against sexism, she is called biased by those who benefit from sexism. Likewise the (rare) black politician who acts against racism.

I'm doubtful that Sadiq will do very much against religious bigotry (except something, perhaps, against that emanating from religious bodies.) He's set his stall out as a Londoner, a lawyer and businessman. That's correct. He is all those things.

He isn't obliged to stand for or against Muslim interests. Perhaps, in being a good Mayor, he'll be achieving it anyway.

[motherinferior]

I think she's suggesting an International Muslamic Conspiracy.

[BertrandRussell]

"It is Khan's duty to give priority to Muslim interests wherever he finds them, he cannot avoid this easily"
Bollocks.

< is there a way of finding out which words you use most often on Mumsnet? I'm sure I say bollocks more often than anything else>

[IPityThePontipines]

the cultures of both the Briton and the Muslim

Newflash: People can be British AND Muslim at the same time. Just like Nadiya from GBBO, Sadiq Khan and Amir Khan are.

Although that's not the first time someone has tried to argue otherwise on here.

As for the rest of your argument; it's cobblers.

[Ricardian]

It is Khan's duty to give priority to Muslim interests wherever he finds them,

So he voted for same sex marriage, to howls of protest from Muslim organisations, because...?

[GarlicShake]

I think she's suggesting an International Muslamic Conspiracy.



Them Muslamists, conspiring's what they do, innit?

Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Za'atar, Falafel ... Infiltrators! Beware!!

[Ricardian]

I think she's suggesting an International Muslamic Conspiracy.

It would be lovely to be able to go for a day reading a range of political blogs and twitter feeds without someone positing an international conspiracy of Jews Zionists, Muslims, "NeoCons", "NeoLiberals", "Bilderbergs", our lizard overlords.

When I was young, and reading a lot of SciFi, the "middle school" (Y9 and Y10 in new money) library at my bog-standard comp bizarrely bought in a set of Robert Anton Wilson and Bob Shea's trilogy "Illuminatus!" I read all three, but suggested after I'd finished that given it features, inter alia, Adolf Hitler having sex with a St Bernard (I may be fuzzy about the precise breed details) perhaps it wasn't quite ideal for the typical 14 year old. It's a fantastic romp through the crazy world of conspiracy theories, late-1960s-style, all Illuminati and buried treasure and so on. Most of it's in-jokes and meta-fiction, but looks positively sane compared to the world view of the left these days.