Another troubling story out of West Yorkshire. Four pupils are reported to have been suspended from Wakefield’s Kettlethorpe High School after a copy of the Quran was scuffed by students on Wednesday. A meeting between the head teacher and ‘community leaders’ was called on Friday, with a West Yorkshire police officer even in attendance. The force subsequently confirmed to the BBC that they were ‘liaising’ with the school about the ‘minor damage’ to the text. The 14-year-old boy in question is claimed to be ‘highly autistic’ – another concerning detail.
So in light of all of this, Mr S was surprised to see a Labour councillor charging head-first into this tinderbox. Usman Ali released a statement on Friday night in which he claimed that the Quran had been ‘desecrated’ and that ‘all the authorities, namely, the police, the school and the local authority’ should be taking ‘swift and appropriate action to deal with this grave situation’. ‘We all need to work together to make sure that this terrible provocation does not set back community relations for years to come’ he concluded. A Labour councillor suggesting a pupil be criminalised? Are the blasphemy laws now back? That wasn’t one of Sir Keir’s five missions…
Mr S asked Labour for whether Ali would be condemned for his comments and if the party whip would be withdrawn. The party declined to provide a response to multiple requests – though the tweet of his statement was deleted after The Spectator got in touch last night. Funny that.
Comments