Muslim voting campaign supported by groups investigated over extremism

From the Telegraph

A campaign to get Muslim voters to back pro-Palestine candidates is supported by two groups under investigation over extremism fears, The Telegraph can reveal.

The Muslim Vote is a nationwide group attempting to coordinate voters to punish candidates that they believe have not been sufficiently supportive of Palestine at the ballot box.

But among the list of its two dozen backers are the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend).

The website provides a list of constituencies where there is a greater than 10 per cent proportion of Muslim voters, alongside how their current MP voted in the November Gaza ceasefire vote.

The campaign reads: “2024 is the first time the Muslim community is organising – and this alone is a big victory for future elections.

“Ultimately success is that the Muslim vote acts as one and emphatically supports those who backed the ceasefire and protests against those who did not.”

TMV promises to add a list of “advisory” candidates for Muslims to vote for at the next election based on recommendations from local groups.

It also recommends that if voters are not able to vote for a “pro-Palestine, pro-peace” candidate, they should spoil their ballot.

“Our philosophy is really simple: if none of the candidates are pro-Palestine, pro-peace, then spoil your ballot. At least register your dissatisfaction,” the FAQ section of the website says.

Among the constituencies listed on the website is Leicester South, where Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, is standing, and Ilford North, whose MP is shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.

The campaign has 25 organisations listed as its supporters, and claims to have a reach of more than 20 million monthly visitors.

TMV states that it is not a religious campaign, but a political one, adding: “Of course, all of us are inspired by our Islamic faith in being good citizens and standing up for our community (Muslim and non-Muslim), but the TMV is simply a campaign to effect political change on issues that affect Muslims

It comes after a poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society, a counter-extremism think tank, showed only one in four British Muslims believe Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on October 7.

A third (32 per cent) said they wanted to see Shariah law implemented in the UK, while just over half (52 per cent) would like to make it illegal to show a picture of the Prophet Mohammed.

TMV has been approached for comment.

The photograph left was taken by an X user in February. It is of a bus stop in Gants Hill Ilford, in Wes Streeting’s constituency. This is the stop that serves the Gants Hil Masjid.  When I took a bus over there a few days later it had gone.