While Ed Miliband dreamt about multiculturalism in Britain, supporters joined hands in Birmingham for a segregated rally.
A Labour MEP for the West Midlands, proudly tweeted a picture of a Labour rally in Hodge Hill, in which seven Labour representatives spoke at a packed Islamic community centre.
The picture clearly shows that men and women were seated separately in the audience, during what was supposed to be an event to encourage political engagement.
This issue did not go unnoticed by the party’s critics, with many taking to Twitter to ask why Labour, which claims to be a party for equality, would support segregated audiences.
Alas the party is staying quiet. A party spokesman was contacted on Saturday night and asked to clarify Labour policy on gender segregation. They are yet to respond.
Actually none of the Labour candidates have been willing to comment on the subject. Jack Dromey, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, and husband of leading Labour feminist Harriet Harman blocked questions on Twitter.
Orthodox branches of both Islam and Judaism require men and women to sit separately in their religious services, but the rally wasn’t a religious service.
Ed Miliband, a Jew, had vowed that upon being elected, Labour would make Islamophobia a crime. Curiously many Muslims believe that the Holocaust never happened.
The last Labour government tried to make it a crime to ‘disrespect’ Islam, at the behest of clamorous Muslim pressure groups.
Labour relies on the Allah block vote in very many constituencies and especially the postal votes of Muslim constituents who do not speak English.
Miliband has almost the least parliamentary experience of all the leaders of the three main parties since the Second World War.
He has had surgery “to change his voice”, as he suffers from a speech impediment, but his voice has not improved. Despite the official account, some maintain that Miliband has had cosmetic surgery done on his nose instead.
