Remember Safia Akhtar? Back in May, Mr Steerpike reported how the Birmingham Labour candidate had ‘waltz[ed] to victory’ in the local elections and been elected as a Labour councillor. Given that the Labour representative once said there was ‘no proof’ that Isis existed, not everyone was thrilled by her appointment.
After Khalid Masood murdered five people including PC Keith Palmer in the March 2017 Westminster terrorist attack, Akhtar posted to her Facebook:
‘Can people relax and stop fighting on Facebook, sadly people died in Westminster today but people die everyday in Syria Palestine Africa Rohingya Kashmir.. Need I carry on?!! Grow up and stop pointing fingers!’
A few days later, she added:
‘So someone got stabbed after the attack last week as a result of media and government claiming that SO CALLED ISIS HAD CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY. There is no ISIS and there is no proof.’
The law student eventually admitted she ‘should have chosen my words more carefully’ and ‘apologise[d] to anyone who found those comments offensive or upsetting’. Understandably, Akhtar was suspended. Only not as a Labour candidate, natch – as a governor of her local primary school.
Now Akhtar’s back in the news. Birmingham Live reports that she’s just been appointed to a key council role on… the committee responsible for protecting children from radicalisation. Akhtar has reportedly been appointed to the Children’s Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
What could possibly go wrong?
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