POLITICIANS must dial down “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric and recognise the contributions of all communities in Britain, prominent south Asians have told Eastern Eye.
They are concerned that recent social media attacks on asylum seekers, immigrants, especially British Pakistanis, as well as ministers will lead to unnecessary deaths.
In the past week, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk, used his platform to condemn Home Office minister, Jess Phillips, for refusing to back calls for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation.
Former chief prosecutor, Nazir Afzal, told Eastern Eye such attacks could have tragic consequences.
“It is really dangerous to target a community or an individual,” he said.
“I can't think of anybody in parliament that is more attuned to tackling violence, against women and girls, and then for her [Jess Phillips] to be called a rape apologist, it's just absolutely ridiculous, but it also puts a target on her back.
“Jo Cox [former Labour MP] was murdered by somebody that was radicalised into thinking that she somehow represented the worst of British society, by some far-right nut.
“In America, [President Donald] Trump was shot at.
“People need to always have the back of your mind by personalising it, by ignoring the evidence and by simply fuelling fires, you are setting a fire.”
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, intervened in the row when he launched his vision for the NHS on Monday (6).
He responded directly to Musk’s posts calling for Phillips to be jailed and branding her a "rape genocide apologist".
“Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they're interested in themselves,” said Starmer.
Afzal defended the prime minister’s record when he was director of public prosecutions.
He said Starmer supported him throughout his tenure.
In 2011, they set up specialist prosecutors to convict so-called grooming gangs of Pakistani origin in Rochdale, said Afzal.
“We spoke to chief constables in this country, and they agreed that they ought to be specialist police investigators dealing with sexual abuse of children,” said the former chief prosecutor.
“We wanted to make it very clear, this was our top priority, therefore police should see this as their top priority.
“So, they brought in special investigators.
“We also had to ensure that the courts were on side, so Keir and I went to the judiciary and said, if you have 11 defence barristers, they're all going to ask questions of the victim over and over and over.
“One victim gave evidence for six days, and we said, that's totally unacceptable.
“So, the judges agreed, and they brought in something called ‘ground rules hearings’ as a result of this representation.”
Victims’ voices
What is lost in the noise of social media and political mudslinging, said Afzal, were the victims.
“I've built my career on prosecuting the worst of humanity, at the same time, I've seen the best of humanity,” he continued.
“All those victims who've had the courage to stand up against those in power and those who have abused them.
“And I can tell you that I've got their names in my head, I feel them in my blood, and it's not fair to them.
“They wouldn't want everybody to be harmed, just the person that harmed them.
“They want the person that harmed them to face the consequences of their action.
“They wouldn't want their neighbour or their doctor or their accountant, just because he happens to be the same colour or same race or same faith as their perpetrator, to be held responsible.
The department recorded the ethnicity of 74 per cent of those prosecuted. Of these, 88 per cent were white and seven per cent were Asian.
Pakistanis made up two per cent, which is the same proportion (two per cent) living in England and Wales.
Church abuse
Last November, Harrods, appointed human rights campaigner, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, as an “advocate” after allegations of sexual misconduct against its former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.
“We have an institution here that has no accountability whatsoever,” argued Sanghera. “If this were any other organisation, it would be put into special measures.
Jasvinder Sanghera (Photo by Jon Bond - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“It's a charity, it's got hundreds of complaints against it, yet nobody's investigating it, and sure people are being harmed, government need to intervene in this institution.”
National conversation
The veteran campaigner also wants a national conversation about how different communities promote segregation.
“I would like to see a huge shift in terms of how we think about this conversation of integration, how we think about this, them and us, that I was raised in.
“Where we were taught, they're different to us, we don't integrate with them over there.
“What that means in terms of divisive thinking, what that means in terms of those individuals growing up across Britain.
“We need to be thinking about that, because that fuels racism, that fuels [the] Reform [Party].”
Prominent south Asians told Eastern Eye they are concerned about the divisive and political language which polarises Britain.
“There was a move under the previous government to see the world as divided between us and them,” Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council said.
“The people less fortunate than us, who were having to take dangerous journeys to come here, there was rhetoric and language used to portrayed them at times of being as though they were lesser human beings of lesser value, of lesser worth.
“That language of division created tensions in communities that then came to the surface when we saw the shocking far right violence back in the summer of 2024.
“Some of the language of the previous government, words of invasion, spoke to the far right and fuelled tension in communities where it existed.”
He told Eastern Eye things were changing under the new Labour government.
“We need to move away from a language of us and them, to a concept of a shared society, where we don't divide, where we don't differentiate people on the basis of their ethnic background or the basis of where they were born.
“But we recognise that there's a collective humanity, and that our country has a role to play in supporting those who are less fortunate than us, that come here seeking sanctuary, but also celebrating the great success story of British integration.
“The great success story that sees so many mixed marriages, that sees so many people who came from other countries as refugees in all walks of life.”
Immigration row
The independent peer, Lord Patel of Bradford, received racist abuse in the press and social media when he was the chair of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The club appointed him in November 2021 to steady the ship after the fallout of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.
Patel is co-chancellor of the University of Southampton, a Russel Group institution.
He told Eastern Eye the row over immigration had strayed into higher education.
Lord Kamlesh Patel
“The rhetoric has not helped over the past few years from whatever government or party you want to belong to,” said the peer. “There's a whole complex debate about migrant numbers and what this country can and cannot sustain.
“The UN's definition of an immigrant is somebody who's in a foreign country for over 12 months, and of course, university students fit that definition.
“I think it's a really unhelpful definition, and I, for one, don't think students should be counted as immigrants on the stats.
“I think it's a separate issue because, for two or three reasons, one is economic.
“Growth is really important to Britain, and we're not going to grow economically without partnerships across the world.
“Now, one of the institutions that provides serious economic growth in any city, or any region is a university.
“It's a lifeblood of so many regions, and it's a really short sighted to make them feel unwelcome by this rhetoric.”
Patel also thinks that Britain needs partnerships with countries such as India – and that has positive consequences for immigration.
“If we look at the stark figures, you're talking about 700 million people under the age of 35 in India.
“It gives India a massive demographic dividend that these people can meet its own fairly ambitious objectives, but also, it'll meet many of the world's objectives as well.
“Now that demographic dividend could end up being a real problem if the education and the training, whether it's skills and a high academic achievement, are not met for these people.
“Everybody can benefit from this, and I think it's really important, [because] India's an up-and-coming superpower, and United Kingdom has a fantastic relationship [with] the oldest democracy and the largest democracy working together.
“It meets so many of our objectives in terms of science development, in terms of AI, in terms of newly trained staff, and I think that bond is really important to keep going.”
Lord Karan Bilimoria has urged the previous government to stop including international students in its migration figures.
He warns that stopping students bringing in dependants will mean further problems for growth in the UK.
The crossbench peer said he hoped a new administration would make things better – but he has been disappointed so far.
“When I was president of the CBI for two years, I dealt a lot with Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, and they are very well intentioned, well meaning, capable individuals,” said the peer.
“They were very clear in saying, we want to be business friendly, we want to support entrepreneurship, we want to grow the economy.
“However, since they've come into office, the measures they've taken, I'm afraid, are anything but enabling growth, in fact, they're all anti-growth measures.
“We as a business community feel very let down, we feel we're not being listened to.”
He told Eastern Eye the new government should study recent history.
Lord Karan Bilimoria
“I've said to them time and again, be like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
“They were the most business-friendly government I've ever worked with in my three and a half decades in business.
“If you look at what Margaret Thatcher did in transforming this country to a country of entrepreneurship and aspiration and opening up the City of London and opening up the British economy from being a sick man of Europe, since then, you've had all businesses have been pro-entrepreneurship.
“But the most business friendly has been Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, where we had a 40 per cent top rate of income tax until right at the end, when Gordon Brown put it up.
“Eighteen per cent capital gains tax, today it's 24 per cent, and entrepreneurs’ relief of £10 million, it's now £1m.
“They've got a huge majority, a 170-seat majority.
“They could be bold, they could reduce taxes to generate growth, and unfortunately, they're not doing that.
“I just wish and implore them to listen to business, work with business, and together, we can generate the growth and increase in productivity that this country desperately needs.”
The government has maintained that it had no choice to impose a £40 billion tax rise because the previous administration left a £22 billion black hole.
NHS ambitions
Starmer’s big speech on the NHS on Monday (6) showed that health was high on the government’s agenda. He promised more NHS community hubs and greater use of the private sector to help cut hospital waiting lists in England.
Leading mental health advocate, Poppy Jaman, is hopeful about Labour’s direction on tackling the country’s health problems.
But the founder and executive vice chair of MindForward Alliance wants the government to think bigger and realise economic growth and mental health go hand-in-hand.
“My colleagues in the UK are all working together to actually influence the government and support the government to direct them in the way that we can actually support people that are living with severe mental illness, but also population health,” Jaman explained.
“From a workplace perspective, there is huge opportunity.
“The Department for Business and trade is all about growth, and how do we form international relationships.
“Well, the UK has been leading, some of the biggest companies in the UK, KPMG, PWC, Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of England, these are members of our organisation.
Poppy Jaman
“They've all been evolving their mental health strategy, and they wouldn't have continued doing it if it wasn't having an impact in terms of its culture internally but also profit and returns within the business.
“So, for me, there's a real opportunity here for the Department for Business and Trade and its growth agenda.”
Additional reporting by Sarwar Alam
'Starmer best PM by miles'
Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan
Relationships between Conservative prime ministers and London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, were not good, but that looks to be changing, writes Barnie Choudhury.
Speaking exclusively to Eastern Eye, Khan said, “Since Keir became prime minister, no member of the government has slagged off London, and that's very different to the previous five prime ministers I worked with.
“I worked with David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz truss, and Rishi Sunak. “This one's the best, by a mile.
“Keir's a politician, because he believes in public service, he believes in giving back, he believes in the power of people achieving more when they work together.”
Khan continues to be trolled on social media and criticised by right-wing UK newspapers.
He still needs round-the-clock security after receiving death threats. The rhetoric could get worse, because in two weeks (20), America will have a new leader, former president, Donald Trump, with whom Khan has clashed in the past.
So, does he expect a repetition of the last time when Trump was in power, and the president attacked him?
“It’s not about me, there’s a much bigger picture.
“The last time Donald Trump was a president, it did lead to the rise of nativist populist movements across the globe.
“Why? Because it normalised mainstream issues that were on the periphery.
“What I don't want is anybody accelerating the rise of nativist populist movements.
“He will be the leader of the free world, it is the largest superpower in the world, and I'm hoping that President Trump this time is different to President Trump last time.
“But my job as the mayor of London is to stand up for our values, stand up for diversity, for human rights, for democracy, for equality.
“And I'm not going to cower to keyboard warriors, or dare I say, the president of the USA.”
Chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Tajul Islam (C) speaks during a press conference outside the ICT court in Dhaka on June 1, 2025, after the start of the trial against Sheikh Hasina. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
FUGITIVE former prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a "systemic attack" to try to crush the uprising against her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday (1).
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule, and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka.
The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina's ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League.
"Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack," Mohammad Tajul Islam, ICT chief prosecutor, told the court in his opening speech.
"The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising."
Islam lodged charges against Hasina and two other officials of "abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising".
Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated.
As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun -- who is in custody, but who did not appear in court on Sunday -- and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who like Hasina, is on the run.
The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.
The hearing is being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.
Prosecutor Islam vowed the trial would be impartial.
"This is not an act of vendetta, but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity," he said.
Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe.
The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25.
In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled the country.
Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.
The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971.
It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.
Earlier on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections.
Hasina banned Jamaat-e-Islami during her tenure and cracked down on its leaders.
In May, Bangladesh's interim government banned the Awami League, pending the outcome of her trial, and of other party leaders.
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A BAN on disposable vapes goes into effect across the UK on Sunday (1) in a bid to protect children's health and tackle a "throwaway" culture.
"For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine," junior environment minister Mary Creagh said.
She said the government was calling "time on these nasty devices" -- a type of e-cigarette which are very popular with young people -- and banning sales of single-use vapes or their supply in a crackdown on UK corner shops and supermarkets.
Those caught flouting the ban will face a £200 fine, while repeat offenders risk up to two years in prison.
Young people and children in particular have been attracted to cheap and colourful disposable vapes, which have snazzy flavours such as mint, chocolate, mango or watermelon, since they were introduced in the UK in 2021.
In 2024, nearly five million disposable vapes were thrown away each week, according to Material Focus, an independent UK-based non-profit.
More than 40 tonnes of lithium, a key metal used in the technology industry, was discarded each year along with single-use vapes -- enough to power 5,000 electrical vehicles, the NGO said.
Fire services have also warned about the risk of discarded vapes catching light among household rubbish.
"Every vape has potential to start a fire if incorrectly disposed of," said Justin Greenaway, commercial manager at electronic waste processing company SWEEEP Kuusakoski.
The new law, first proposed by the previous Tory government, also aims to stem a rise in vaping.
"This new law is a step towards reducing vaping among children, while ensuring products are available to support people to quit smoking," said Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive for health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
A recent ASH survey said 11 per cent of adults vape, or about 5.6 million people, and 18 per cent of 11 to 17 year olds -- about 980,000 under-18s. Among vapers, some 52 per cent of young adults aged between 18 to 24 preferred single-use vapes.
The long-term health risks of vaping remain unclear.
E-cigarettes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke. But they do still contain highly addictive nicotine.
The upcoming ban has already led to a fall in disposable vapes. According to ASH, the use of disposables by 18-24-year-old vapers fell from 52 percent in 2024 to 40 percent in 2025.
The UK ban follows similar European moves. Belgium and France became the first EU countries to ban sales of disposable vapes.
Ireland is also preparing to introduce new restrictions.
But critics have argued many users will simply switch to refillable or reusable vaping devices, which will limit the impact on nicotine consumption.
And industry experts say the ban could lead to more illegal products entering the UK market.
The bill "only makes it illegal to sell disposable vapes -- it does not prohibit their use," warned Dan Marchant, director of Vape Club, the UK's largest online vape retailer.
"We risk a surge of illegal and potentially dangerous items flooding the black market."
(AFP)
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An all-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad in London (X/@rsprasad)
AN all-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad has arrived in London to reiterate India's zero-tolerance stance on terrorism.
The multi-party delegation, including MPs Daggubati Purandeswari, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ghulam Ali Khatana, Amar Singh, Samik Bhattacharya, M Thambidurai, former minister of state MJ Akbar and ambassador Pankaj Saran, is scheduled to meet community groups, think tanks, parliamentarians and diaspora leaders.
"The All Party Delegation of MPs led by Ravi Shankar Prasad arrived in London on Saturday evening and was received by High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami," the Indian High Commission in the UK said in a post on X.
During their three-day visit to the UK, the delegation will engage with House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, foreign office minister for Indo-Pacific Catherine West, parliamentarians, think tanks and Indian diaspora representatives, the High Commission said.
The Prasad-led delegation is touring six European countries as part of India's diplomatic outreach following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. The delegation arrived in London after concluding visits to France, Italy and Denmark over the past week.
In Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, the delegation interacted with Danish parliamentarians, foreign affairs officials and Indian diaspora groups.
"The delegation emphasised India's zero-tolerance towards terrorism and stance that any act of violence would be responded to appropriately. India's appreciation of Denmark's public stance condemning the Pahalgam terrorist attack and the expression of solidarity with India was conveyed to the Danish side during the meetings," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement earlier.
From the UK, the delegation will head for discussions and meetings with a cross-section of parliamentarians, political leaders and diaspora groups in the European Union (EU) and Germany.
The delegation is one of seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to stress Pakistan's links to terrorism.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.
Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.
The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding to stop military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
(PTI)
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Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan (R) interacts with General Romeo S. Brawner Jr., Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. (X/@HQ_IDS_India via PTI Photo)
INDIA's defence chief appeared to confirm his country had lost at least one aircraft during the brief conflict with Pakistan earlier this month, he told Bloomberg in an interview.
India and Pakistan were engaged in a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.
More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides. Pakistan claimed its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft.
India's chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan, called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes "absolutely incorrect".
But Chauhan, when pressed as to whether India had lost any jets, appeared to confirm New Delhi had lost an unspecified number of aircraft -- without giving details.
"I think, what is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down," he told Bloomberg TV, speaking on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue defence meeting in Singapore.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi.
On May 11, a day after the ceasefire, India's Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, speaking to reporters, had said that "all our pilots are back home", adding that "we are in a combat scenario, and that losses are a part of combat".
A senior security source said three Indian jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause.
But until the comments on Saturday (31), India had not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost.
"The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range," Chauhan added, speaking to Bloomberg.
"Why they were down -- that is more important for us, and what did we do after that", he added.
The recent conflict between the countries was triggered by an attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir on April 22, the deadliest on civilians in the contested Muslim-majority territory in decades.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the Islamist militants it said carried out the attack, charges that Pakistan denied.
(AFP)
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Arooj Shah and Kamran Ghafoor during the council leadership challenge at Oldham Town Hall last Wednesday (21)
OLDHAM council leader Arooj Shah said the borough faces a ‘serious challenge around identity politics’ – with ‘every issue becoming a divisive issue’ – following a no-confidence vote mounted against her.
The town hall boss fended off the challenge at a full council meeting last Wednesday (21).
Oldham Group councillor Kamran Ghafoor made a bid for the role, claiming ‘residents have lost trust in the current administration’.
He tried to create a ‘rainbow alliance’ across political groups, but the attempt failed after four independents stood by Labour leaders.
Labour councillors called the challenge ‘a political stunt’ and accused Ghafoor of ‘unsavoury tactics’ to convince the independents supporting the administration to jump ship. Ghafoor denied the allegations.
At a full council meeting last Wednesday (21), Ghafoor said: “This Labour administration doesn’t listen. Not to this chamber. Not to the residents. Not to the people they claim to serve. We are better suited to deal with the real issues facing Oldham than this tired, out-of-touch Labour administration.”
Deputy Elaine Taylor said: “In reality, you have no pathway to govern and no plan to lead. This is just a political stunt. We’ve already heard about some of the unsavoury tactics. You have no policy suggestions, other than anti-Arooj. We have no idea what you stand for.”
Shah has been reinstated as council leader for 2025-2026. The leadership challenge echoed a similar bid made by a ‘rainbow alliance’ of independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats exactly a year ago.
At a Greater Manchester Civic Leadership Programme in Manchester for underrepresented identities last Thursday (May 22), Shah claimed the no-confidence vote was ‘personal’.
She later added: “This is about some people not accepting who I am, what my upbringing is, what my heritage is, what my faith is. They can never attack me on delivery, because I have delivered for this borough.”
Shah highlighted the council’s improved financial position; the recent Ofsted upgrade to a ‘good’ rating for children’s services; and much-improved high school attendence rates.
“We have a serious challenge in Oldham around identity politics,” Shah added. “Every issue becomes a divisive issue. If we fix a pothole in one area, we’re told ‘you only fix roads in white areas’. We fix a pothole in a predominantly Asian area, I’m told I ‘only look after my own’.
“I’m the leader of a council. My job is to bring people together, not divide them.”
Ghafoor said: “We remain committed to equality, fairness, and mutual respect. Criticism of councillor Shah’s leadership has never been about her gender. “It has always been about accountability, transparency, and the quality of her leadership. Reducing it to identity politics is a disservice to the many women – and men – who believe in genuine, inclusive representation.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester: “People should put place first rather than party first and pull together for Oldham. That’s what we try to do. It’s what the leader tries to do.
“It’s best to get in a position where the place is at the forefront. Oldham have got some really exciting plans around Oldham Athletic, which we will support.”