Jess Philips - what was happening locally?

[MidnightPatrol]

I have seen the video this morning of Jess Philips standing up to a baying mob, on announcement of her victory in Birmingham Yardley.

She refers to a campaign of harassment of her staff - slashing tyres and filming etc.

There is then clearly a mob of people in the venue shouting.

What is the wider story / background on this? Who are the people intimidating them? Is it another candidate?

The issue for many Muslim constituents is Labour's stance on Gaza. Labour delayed calling for an immediate ceasefire and in October, Starmer said that Israel had a right to withhold food and water from Palestine. Philips resigned from the front bench in November to vote for a ceasefire.

Her campaign has been marred by intimidatory tactics such as shouting genocide in one of the campaigner's faces, slashing tyres and groups of men being menacing. This concluded in men shouting down Philip's speech on election night.

So even though labour is calling for a ceasefire now it's still not enough. Arguably for some it is never enough.

I was working in Birmingham on election day. Driving through the scruffy areas of Birmingham and there are many yes, there were police outside the polling stations and megaphones shouting out all sorts.

Many Birmingham areas have a very hiugh % of Muslim people. I am uncomfortable with what these 'Independents' ae doing. Have they sworn alligance to the King for example. The sort of behaviour that Jess had to put up with is disgusting and they hated her winning especially as she was a mere women. Shame on them.

She resigned the shadow frontbench to save her seat. Nothing more.

x.com/lbc/status/1809919282874126548?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

" I resent the fact that Philips felt the need to gaslight non-MusIims living in difficult circumstances by waving the issue away and suggesting it's a figment of our imaginations. I assume she did this for political/career reasons. Maybe, just maybe, her recent unpleasant experiences have given her pause for thought."

Yeah, but you can't insult your constituents and expect to be re-elected.

"Have they sworn alligance to the King for example. "

WTF? Why should they have to? In a citizenship ceremony you mean? They would if they became MPs, but you can say you are doing it under duress like Clive Lewis MP did.

She was harassed for doing what they want??

The issue isn't specifically Philips, it's the Labour party. Shabana Mahmood another Labour candidate was also harassed, masked men broke into a meeting she was in.
Khalid Mahmood, a Labour MP, lost his seat to a pro Gaza independent.

Thanks for explaining.

but don’t the Tories hold similar views to Labour on Gaza? Why weren’t they targeted?

I don't know any Tory constituencies with a large Muslim population.

In South Leicester where Jonathon Ashworth lost his seat there are reports of people being harrassed to vote for the independent, picked up from their homes and taking to polling stations. There needs to be an investigation as it almost sounds like coersion.

That is horrifying.

Some more info on the candidates here. Extremely concerning how many of these groups end up with links to those who were or are part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/12/the-sinister-truth-about-the-gaza-independents/

All these candidates were enthusiastically endorsed by The Muslim Vote (TMV), a campaign group dedicated to ‘putting Muslim issues at the forefront’ of politics. On its website, TMV boasts of support of numerous other Muslim organisations – including MEND and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).

MAB was founded in 1997 by Kamal El-Helbawy, a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the world’s oldest and farthest-reaching Islamist movements.